Amara aenea

{{short description|Species of beetle}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Amara aenea01.jpg

| taxon = Amara aenea

| authority = (De Geer, 1774)

| synonyms_ref = {{cite journal|first=Yves|last=Bousquet|year=2012|title=Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico|url=https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/4003/download/pdf/|format=PDF|journal=ZooKeys|issue=245|pages=1–1722|doi=10.3897/zookeys.245.3416|pmc=3577090|pmid=23431087 |bibcode=2012ZooK..245....1B |doi-access=free }}

| synonyms =

• Amara devincta Casey, 1918
• Carabus aeneus DeGeer, 1774

}}

Amara aenea is a ground beetle common in almost the whole of Europe and Northern Asia. Its range covers also parts of Northern Africa. It is known as the common sun beetle.

A. aenea adults are predators that eat other insects, such as the apple maggot{{cite journal |author1=M. E. O'Neil |author2=K. S. Mason |author3=R. Isaacs |year=2005 |title=Seasonal abundance of ground beetles in highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) fields and response to a reduced-risk insecticide program |journal=Environmental Entomology |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=378–384 |doi=10.1603/0046-225X-34.2.378 |s2cid=85559558 |doi-access=free }} and soybean aphid,{{cite journal |author1=Claire E. Rutledge |author2=Robert J. O'Neil |author3=Tyler B. Fox |author4=Douglas A. Landis |year=2004 |title=Soybean aphid predators and their use in integrated pest management |journal=Annals of the Entomological Society of America |volume=97 |issue=2 |pages=240–248 |url=http://www.landislab.ent.msu.edu/pdf/Landis%20PDF%20Collection/33.Rutledge.Oneil.Fox.Landis.Soybean%20aphid%20predators.pdf |doi=10.1603/0013-8746(2004)097[0240:SAPATU]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=83730579 |access-date=2011-08-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331081532/http://www.landislab.ent.msu.edu/pdf/Landis%20PDF%20Collection/33.Rutledge.Oneil.Fox.Landis.Soybean%20aphid%20predators.pdf |archive-date=2012-03-31 |url-status=dead }} which are considered pests by the agriculture industry. As such, this beetle is under study for use in integrated pest management. Larvae are omnivorous.{{cite journal |author1=Karel Hůrka |author2=Vojtěch Jarošík |year=2003 |title=Larval omnivory in Amara aenea (Coleoptera: Carabidae) |journal=European Journal of Entomology |volume=100 |issue=3 |pages=329–335 |doi=10.14411/eje.2003.052 |url=http://www.eje.cz/pdfarticles/208/eje_100_3_329_Hurka.pdf |doi-access=free }}

The adults feed on the developing seed of Poa trivialis and smooth meadow grass Poa pratensis.{{Cite web |url=http://www.plantpress.com/wildlife/o1084-roughmeadowgrass.php |title=Natural England description on website |access-date=2009-08-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090223215305/http://www.plantpress.com/wildlife/o1084-roughmeadowgrass.php |archive-date=2009-02-23 |url-status=dead }}