Gouden Schalebijter

Biking home from the forest yesterday with Alex and Phoebe (Zonieen Woud) I spied this beetle crossing the street and had to stop for a closer look. Turns out it's a Green Beetle (Carabus auratus) in the family Carabidae, also known as ground beetles. It's native to Europe and was introduced into North America to control gypsy moths but is not very common there. This is the second one I've found in Belgium. Needless to say, it made my day.

Check out the metallic green gold color, striate elytra and menacing mouthparts and sideways-facing eyeballs. The girls were as excited as I was, and we tried to get it home so we could show Thijs, Dad, and Oma & Opa who were visiting. But I didn't want to carry it the whole way, not knowing if it would release some foul and irritating chemical (which it did!) or if it might sink its mandibles into my skin. I did pick it up to show the girls, and it left the most disgusting smell! Alex said it smelled like a fahrt, but I think worse. The little guy was feisty and refused to sit quietly in Alex's bicycle basket, so unfortunately we didn't get to bring it home. Hopefully we'll be lucky enough to see another one of these days.