GREEN-LINED GROUND BEETLE
Catadromus lacordairei
Status
Vulnerable (Tasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act 1995), due to its localised distribution.
Description
It is a black and shiny beetle, usually 30 mm in
length, with bright golden-green margins along
the length of the wing covers. The jaws are
prominent and serrated.
Distribution and Habitat
The species occurs across southeastern Australia,
including Tasmania, where it has only been
recorded from eight locations across the
northern and central midlands. The species was
originally described by Boisduval (1835) and
located by Simson (pre 1900) who described its
habitat as Macquarie River (Sloane 1920).
Subsequent records were from the Bracknell
region in 1983 and 1984, Cleveland in 1987 and
Wesley Vale in 1992 (Spencer & Fearn unpubl.
data). There are now additional records from the
northern midlands.
Image ©C. Spencer & K. Richards
Open grassy low altitude woodland associated with wetlands is the known habitat for the species. In
such habitat beetles occur beneath stones and woody debris and may also be found sheltering and
hunting within the fissures of basaltic clay soils.
Of the sites surveyed beetles were recorded in highest densities in areas associated with naturally
occurring wetlands, with a mosaic of Poa labillardieri and Lomandra longifolia tussocks, where the
exotic grasses are heavily grazed by sheep. Lower densities were encountered in similar habitat
associated with artificial impoundments..
Adults are opportunistic predators/scavengers, taking a wide range of invertebrate prey, including
oligochaetes, coleopteran larvae, dipteran larvae, Teleogryllus commodus (black field cricket) and
metamorphling frogs. They are crepuscular hunters and actively pursue prey on the ground surface,
beneath debris and in soil crevices.
Important locations include wetland areas in the vicinity of Wesley Vale and areas adjacent to the
Macquarie River between Longford and Campbell Town. It is unknown whether the species was more
widespread than the current known distribution; however, this is likely given the once widespread
occurrence of its known habitat.
Reading
Giachino, P.M. (2005). Revision of the genus Catadromus W.S. Macleay, 1825 (Coleoptera,
Carabidae). Results of the Zoological Missions to Australia of the Regional Museum of Natural
Sciences of Turin, Italy. II. Monographs Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali Torino 42: 239–268.
Biodiversity Values Database This version current at August 2011
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Hawkeswood, T.J. (2007). Beetles (Coleoptera) of the Shell Picture Card series: Carabidae. Calodema
Supplementary Paper 47: 1–4.
Moore, B.P. (1965). Studies on Australian Carabidae (Coleoptera) 4. The Pterostichinae. Transactions
of the Royal Entomological Society of London 117(1): 1–32.
Moore, B.P. (1983) Beetles of South-eastern Australia. Fascicle 5 pp. 69–84. Australian Entomological
Press, NSW.
Sloane, T.G. (1920) The Carabidae of Tasmania. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of N.S.W. 45:
113–178.
Spencer, C. & Richards, K. (undated). Draft Listing Statement prepared for the Biodiversity
Conservation Branch, Department of Primary Industries and Water.
Spencer, C. & Richards, K. (2010). The green-lined ground beetle, Catadromus lacordairei, in
Tasmania. The Tasmanian Naturalist 132: 15–19.
Wapstra, M. (undated). Draft Listing Statement.
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