Carabus gigas

{{Short description|Species of beetle}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Carabidae - Carabus gigas.JPG

| image_caption = Carabus gigas male and female, at National Museum (Prague)

| genus = Carabus

| species = gigas

| authority = Creutzer, 1799

| synonyms = *Carabus (Procerus) gigas

  • Procerus gigas

| synonyms_ref = [https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id55383/ Carabus gigas], biolib.cz

}}

Carabus gigas is a species of beetles of the family Carabidae.

Description

Carabus gigas is the largest European ground beetle, reaching a length of about {{convert|40|-|70|mm}}. The upper surface is black and glossy. The elytrtra are oval, strongly convex and covered with about 15 rows of more or less small tubercles. Also the pronotum has a granular surface. The adults reach the age of 3 years or more. These beetles primarily feed on snails.

Distribution

This species is endemic to Europe and occurs in South-East Europe and in Central Europe, the range extends into Styria and Carinthia. It is observed in Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, mainland Greece, Hungary, mainland Italy, North Macedonia, Romania, Republic of Moldova, Serbia and Slovenia.

Habitat

Carabus gigas lives in moist and subalpine highlands.

Subspecies

  • Carabus g. duponcheli, Dejean, 1831 (Southern Greece)
  • Carabus g. parnassicus, Kraatz, 1884 (Greece, North Macedonia, southern Albania)

Gallery

File:Carabus.gigas.-.calwer.01.13.jpg|Illustration of Carabus gigas from Carl Gustav Calwer and Gustav Jäger, "Naturgeschichte der Käfer Europas" (1876), Table 1, Picture 13.

File:Carabus gigas Mehedinti.jpg|In Mehedinți Mountains, Romania

References

{{Reflist| refs=

{{Cite web| title=Carabus gigas Creutzer, 1799

| url=https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/QV2J

| website=Catalogue of Life

| access-date=2023-04-09

}}

}}