Scaphinotus viduus, the bereft snail-eating beetle, is a species of ground beetles in the family Carabidae. It is found in North America (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Georgia, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont, West Virginia), where it inhabits coniferous forests, usually in areas close to water.

Adults are brachypterous, gregarious and nocturnal. They prey on snails, slugs and caterpillars.A Treatise on the Western Hemisphere Caraboidea (Coleoptera)

References

Bousquet, Yves (2012). "Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico". ZooKeys, issue 245, 1–1722. Erwin, Terry L. (2007). A Treatise on the Western Hemisphere Caraboidea (Coleoptera): Their classification, distributions, and ways of life. Volume I. Trachypachidae, Carabidae - Nebriiformes 1, 323 + 22 plates.

Further reading

NCBI Taxonomy Browser, Scaphinotus viduus Arnett, R.H. Jr., and M. C. Thomas. (eds.). (2000). American Beetles, Volume I: Archostemata, Myxophaga, Adephaga, Polyphaga: Staphyliniformia. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.

Richard E. White. (1983). Peterson Field Guides: Beetles. Houghton Mifflin Company.