Calosoma sycophanta, the forest caterpillar hunter, is a species of ground beetle belonging to the family Carabidae.
Subspecies and varietas Calosoma sycophanta var. severum Chaudoir, 1850 Calosoma sycophanta var. nigrocyaneum Letzner, 1850 Calosoma sycophanta var. marginatum Letzner, 1850 Calosoma sycophanta var. azureum Letzner, 1850 Calosoma sycophanta var. purpureoaureum Letzner, 1850 Calosoma sycophanta var. cupreum Letzner, 1850 Callipara sycophanta rapax Motschoulsky, 1865 Calosoma sycophanta var. smaragdinum Rossi, 1882 Calosoma sycophanta var. habelmanni Schilsky, 1888 Calosoma sycophanta var. purpuripenne Reitter, 1891 Calosoma sycophanta prasinum Lapouge, 1907 Calosoma sycophanta var. lapougei Breuning, 1927 Calosoma sycophanta nigrosuturale Jaquet, 1930 Calosoma sycophanta nigroaeneum Polentz, 1937 Calosoma of the world
Description Calosoma sycophanta can reach a length of about . This large ground beetle has characteristic metallic bright green elytra, while scutellum is metallic bluish. The head is black. These colours have iridescent shades that change (green, blue, bronze, copper, gold black) according to the direction and quality of light. Pronotum is transverse shaped, posteriorly sharply narrowed, wrinkled and punctured. Elytra are flattened with clearly visible punctures in the striae.
Behavior This ground beetle is a voracious consumer of caterpillars (especially Lymantria dispar, Thaumetopoea processionea, Thaumetopoea pityocampa and Euproctis chrysorrhoea) during both its larval stage and as an adult.Ground Beetles , Susan Mahr, University of Wisconsin–Madison]Hermann Burmeister Anatomical Observations upon the Larva of Calosoma sycophantaCookies on Invasive Species CompendiumArthur V. Evans The Forest Caterpillar Hunter, Calosoma sycophanta
As a predator the species has been researched for the effect of its predation upon the caterpillars with microsporidian pathogens, finding a preference for Vairimorpha disparis infected larva.
It is a diurnal beetle and both adults and larvae live in trees.
Distribution This species is native to Europe. It is present in most European countries, in the eastern Palearctic realm, in the Nearctic realm, in the Near East, and in North Africa.Fauna Europaea In 1905 it was imported to New England for control of the gypsy moth.
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