Many wood-infesting beetle larvae are eruciform, but again there is a subdivi- 
sion. Larvae of the scarabaeoid subtype are typical grubs with wrinkled, crescent- 
shaped, and often hairy bodies (families Scarabaeidae, Lucanidae, Anobiidae, 
Bostrichidae, and Lyctidae). Larvae of the cerambycoid subtype have straight 
rather than crescent-shaped bodies and are more active than larvae of the 
scarabaeoid subtype. The larvae of the Buprestidae have somewhat flattened 
bodies, but Cerambycidae and Elateridae larvae typically have rounded bodies. 
There are extensive references to the taxonomy of coleopteran adults (27, /28, 
145, 635, 723, 724, 725) and larvae (1, 142, 243, 980). Keys to identification and 
descriptions of habits of species occurring in eastern North America are available 
(304). Extensive checklists and manuals of the major families of beetles are being 
prepared by the North American Beetle Fauna Project of the Beetle Research 
Institute of America (27). 
The families described here are discussed in phylogenetic order from primitive to 
advanced. Some families do not contain forest-destroying insects but are included 
because they contain beetles frequently encountered in the forest. 
Family Carabidae 
Ground Beetles 
The Carabidae, one of the largest families of beetles, contains hundreds of 
species. Both as adults and as larvae, nearly all ground beetles are predacious on 
other insects. Adults of most species are black or dull brown, but adults of a few 
species are yellow and may be marked with black. Some species are brightly 
colored, either metallic blue, green, or purple. Many have an orange prothorax or 
orange markings on the elytra. Size also varies greatly among species, but the body 
is flat to oval in cross section. Adults are unusually long lived—1 to 4 years—and 
are active even in winter. Ground beetles occur, sometimes abundantly, in most 
habitats, e.g., under stones, logs, forest litter, bark, or running about on the ground 
or branches. 
Larvae are elongate, fusiform, and usually active. The integument is darkly 
sclerotized in the free-living species, but it is white in those species living in the 
ground or bark. The larvae have five-jointed legs, frequently with spines and single 
or paired movable claws on the fifth joint for grasping prey. Their mandibles are 
sickle-shaped for the same purpose. 
Many carabids are very beneficial, preying on many of the forest pests that cause 
much damage. The prey include lepidopterous and hymenopterous defoliating 
pests, such as the gypsy moth and sawflies, and the immature stages of bark 
beetles. A number of species in the genus Calosoma are important predators of tree- 
defoliating pests and other insects. Adults are large, about 20 to 30 mm long, and 
some are brilliantly colored. Like many other carabids, these conspicuous predators 
emit a disagreeable odor when handled or disturbed. 
A species introduced from Europe in 1906, Calosoma sycophanta (L.), 18 now 
widespread and well established over most of the area infested by gypsy moths and 
even beyond. Adults have a bluish-black pronotum with golden-green elytra, and 
they are from 24 to 30 mm long (fig. 104). Both the adults and larvae readily climb 
trees and feed voraciously on gypsy moth larvae and pupae. Many other insects are 
also preyed upon. Adults live up to 4 years, overwinter and lay eggs in the ground, 
and emerge about June. After climbing trees to feed to maturity, larvae return to the 
ground to pupate. The effectiveness of this predator has been investigated (/88). 
Native species widely distributed in the Eastern States include C. frigidum Kirby 
(fig. 105), C. willcoxi LeConte, C. scrutator (F.), and the fiery hunter, C. calidum 
(F.) (fig. 106). 
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