Ground Beetles And Rove Beetles / RHS Gardening

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Ground beetles and rove beetles RHS Advice Guide Many species of ground and rove beetle can be found in gardens. Part of the biodiversity a healthy garden supports most of these insects are predatory.

By The RHS Advice Team

• Quick facts
• What are they?
• Biology
• See also

Quick facts

Common names - Ground beetles or carabids and rove beetles or staphylinids

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Scientific names - Numerous species (over 1300)

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Where found - Mainly on or in the soil

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What do they do - Mainly predatory beetles that feed on other invertebrates

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Most active - March to October

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What are they?

Ground beetles (Carabidae) and rove beetles (Staphylindae) are beetle families which are largely ground dwelling, most are predatory and part of a balanced garden ecosystem. There are about 350 species of ground beetle and over 1000 species of rove beetle in Britain.

These beetles can be encouraged in gardens by providing habitats for wildlife particularly wood piles, compost Can refer to either home-made garden compost or seed/potting compost: • Garden compost is a soil improver made from decomposed plant waste, usually in a compost bin or heap. It is added to soil to improve its fertility, structure and water-holding capacity. Seed or potting composts are used for growing seedlings or plants in containers - a wide range of commercially produced peat-free composts are available, made from a mix of various ingredients, such as loam, composted bark, coir and sand, although you can mix your own. heaps and leaving some leaf litter in garden borders.

Rove beetles have elongate bodies with short wing-cases that leave most of the abdominal segments uncovered. They are 2-30 mm long and most are black or brown in colour, but some have red wing-cases and markings. At 20–30 mm the matt black devil’s coach horse (Ocypus olens) is Britain's largest rove beetle and is often found in gardens under logs or pots. A smaller species (3-4 mm), Atheta coriaria, is sometimes supplied as a biological control agent for fungus gnat larvae, glasshouse red spider mite and aphids in glasshouses.Find out more about rove beetles from UK beetles

Ground beetles are 2-25 mm long, many are black but some are brown, green or blue, often with a metallic sheen. Most feed at ground level, but some will climb plants to feed on aphids and small caterpillars. One species often found in gardens, the violet ground beetle (Carabus violaceus), has metallic-purple edges to the wing-cases and thorax. Being one of the bigger carabids, 20-25 mm long, it will feed on some of the larger garden invertebrates, including slugs, leatherjackets, cutworms and other caterpillars. Its long legs and powerful jaws mark it out as an active predator.Found out more about ground beetles from UK beetles

Biology

Ground beetles and rove beetles typically:

• Lay eggs in the soil or in accumulations of organic matter
• Have larvae which are elongate, relatively soft-bodied and have three pairs of legs near the head end
• The head, thorax and usually some of the abdominal segments of larvae are often brown or black but the underside is creamy white
• The larvae generally remain in the soil or leaf litter, where they feed on other invertebrates and their eggs
• As adult beetles, especially ground beetles, they are much more active and may be seen running over the soil surface

See also

UK Beetles information on Carabidae

UK Beetles information on Staphylinidae

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