Pennsylvania dingy ground beetle
The Pennsylvania dingy ground beetle is shiny black on top and reddish brown underneath. Its wing covers have fine lines running along them. It is a helpful beetle for farmers, because it eats the seeds of weeds.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
It can smell seeds that are starting to sprout, because sprouting seeds give off gases.
It likes seeds that have soaked up water better than dry ones.
It sometimes nibbles ripe strawberries, probably to get a drink.
At night it is attracted to lights.
Its larva is black with a reddish head and two long tails at the back.
Most asked questions about Pennsylvania dingy ground beetle
?What does the Pennsylvania ground beetle eat?
Mostly the seeds of weeds and grasses. That makes it a friend of farmers.
?Is the Pennsylvania dingy ground beetle harmful?
No. It can only squirt a smelly liquid if bothered.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Harpalus pensylvanicus
- Named by
- De Geer, 1774
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Carabidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Carabidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Pennsylvania ground beetle
Where the facts come from
- Harpalus pensylvanicus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Ilona L from Wisconsin -- USA. CC BY-SA 2.0, 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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