Family: Carabidae
Subfamily: Carabinae
Length: 12-33 mm
Members of this genus have very long and narrow heads to allow them to feed deep within a snail shell. The beetle in the photo above seemed to be considering a centipede meal instead. The beetle had a purple sheen the camera failed to capture.
The genus Scaphinotus is notable for the very narrow manibles and for the numerous striations on the elytrafourteen to eighteen on each elytron.
Left: Green Scaphinotus photographed at Holly River State Park at the annual meeting of the West Virginia Entomological Society. The beetle was discovered under a rock.
