Frequently Asked Questions About Insects - Department of Entomology at Texas A&M University

Frequently Asked Questions

Topic:	Beetles, caterpillar hunter
Question:	I am a naturalist at a learning center. I am sending you a picture of an insect found on an elevated boardwalk in our park. I am also an amateur entomologist, and I thought I was familiar with most of our local insects, but I have never seen anything like this. My best guess is that it is a larva of some kind of beetle. The insect is about 25 mm long, can retract its head, and seems to have a suction cup like projection from the last abdominal segment. If you could identify this insect and tell me what it eats I would appreciate it greatly.
Answer:	I can't be absolutely sure from a picture, but my guess is what you found is the larva of a ground beetle, Caraidae. Because of the large size a good guess on the genus would be Calasoma which is the "caterpillar hunter." The feed on many insects besides caterpillars.
Related Link:	http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/bimg130.html
Related Link:
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Response by:	John A. Jackman
Title:	Professor and Extension Specialist
** Most of the Related Links above also contain images.