Carabus

Carabus is a genus of ground beetles, family Carabidae, subfamily Carabinae, tribe Carabini, first formally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 and now the largest genus in its subfamily, comprising 94 subgenera, over 900 species and roughly 2,300 subspecies. Members measure 12 to 50 millimeters, mostly lack functional wings, and display often strikingly colorful exoskeletons. Carabus beetles are nocturnal predators feeding on snails, earthworms, caterpillars and other insects in various life stages, occasionally scavenging dead vertebrates; some species have evolved macrocephalic heads adapted for crushing snail shells while others have narrow, stenocephalic heads adapted for reaching inside them. The vast majority of species live in the Palearctic region, with roughly 16 species found in the Nearctic, and their generally low dispersal ability has shaped the distribution of separate lineages across their range.