Carabus (Pachystus) hortensis hortensis (Linaeus, 1758)

Family: Carabidae

Size 23 - 30 mm. Its surface is shiny, the basic color is dark black-brown with copper, bluish or greenish shimmer. The two rows of pits on the elytra are typically golden or brassy in color, rarely green. The underside is shiny black. The elytra are oval with fine ribbing and pits. The edges of the elytra are shimmering reddish.

It appears from April to October in the forests of the lowlands and hills, rarely goes up to the mountains. Only rarely in fields and gardens. It is a nocturnal species that is hidden during the day. At night it hunts various insect larvae, snails and relatively large insects. It is able to catch, for example, cockroaches. It is also attracted by the corpses of smaller mammals.

The dark-colored predatory larva grows up to 30 mm in length. It pupates in the ground, where the imago hatches. The beetles overwinter in rotting stumps or in moss cushions.