Different Beetle Types

Common Name: Red Turnip Beetle

Latin Name: Entomoscelis americana

Length: 7 mm

Range: Thoughout Alberta

Habitat: Various

Time of year seen: Summer and Fall

Diet: Turnip, radish, rapeseed, mustard and canola




Common Name: Firefly

Latin Name: Ellychnia spp.

Length: 5 - 14 mm

Range: Alberta

Habitat: Damp areas

Time of year seen: Summer and Fall

Ground Beetles (Family Carabidae)
Ground beetles make up the third largest family of beetles in North America, with more than 2200 species in the US alone. Its members exhibit considerable variation in size, shape, and color. Most species are dark, shiny, and somewhat flattened, with hard striated elytra (fancy word for their hard wing coverings).


Cicindela duodecimguttata A predaceous ground beetle--more specifically, a tiger beetle--often found on cranberry beds in Maine, especially along the dikes and banks.

Ground beetles are commonly found under stones, logs, leaves, bark, or debris, or just running about on the ground (hence, the name). When disturbed, they run rapidly, but seldom fly. Most species hide during the day and feed at night. Thus, they are not often picked up in sweep nets while sweeping in cranberry beds. Nearly all ground beetles are predaceous on other insects, and many are very beneficial. In cranberries, their benefits are less significant--because their numbers are not that high--and so they probably play more of a neutral role (neither beneficial nor harmful). However, those in the genus Calosoma--which are the largest and most brilliantly colored ground beetles--feed chiefly on caterpillars and so may be more beneficial to cranberry growers than what the industry is aware of. A very few ground beetle members are plant feeders, such as the seed-corn beetle, Stenolophus lecontei(Chaudoir).

Eggs are laid singly, often in cells, in mud or damp soil; larvae pupate and emerge as adults the following year. Adults can live 2 to 4 years!



Scarab beetles (Family Scarabaeidae)




Carrion beetles (Family Silphidae)