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Sticker of Small snail-eating ground beetle
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Small snail-eating ground beetle

Sphaeroderus stenostomus

The small snail-eating ground beetle is a dark beetle that hunts snails. It has a narrow head that can reach right into a snail's shell. It lives in North America.

Lives in
North America, in woods
Top speed
about 1.2 km/h (0.75 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. It only hunts snails.
What does it eat?
It hunts snails and slugs on the ground.
For real!Photo of Small snail-eating ground beetle
Picture by iNaturalist user: averagewalrus. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its narrow head helps it reach deep inside a snail's shell.

2

There are three slightly different forms of it.

3

One of its forms is called the narrow-mouthed false snail-eating beetle.

you asked

Most asked questions about Small snail-eating ground beetle

?What does the small snail-eating ground beetle eat?

It eats snails and slugs.

?Is the small snail-eating ground beetle dangerous?

No. It is harmless to people.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Sphaeroderus stenostomus
Named by
Weber, 1801
Group
Beetles
Family
Carabidae
Classification
Insecta > Coleoptera > Carabidae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Sphaeroderus stenostomus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by iNaturalist user: averagewalrus. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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More from the same group: Beetles

Also at home here: Forests and woods

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