Beetle Parasitized by Fungus for ID Help Please

[Lancashire Lad]

Hi,

I found this today whilst out looking for fungi:-



I'm pretty sure that the fungus which has infected the beetle will be one of the Entomophthora species.

But - there are 50+ Entomophthora species of fungi which occur in Britain.

Knowing the species of beetle involved, might narrow things down somewhat. - Unfortunately, I don't know the first thing about beetles.

Apologies for rather poor photo, but it was pouring down at the time, (hence the rain drops on wing cases etc.) and the insect had chosen a rather awkward spot for its last resting place.

Any suggestions towards genera / species of beetle will be much appreciated.

Regards,
Mike.

[Jason Green]

Wow, that's some infection! The head/thorax and abdomen have been completely distorted. So then, looking at the shape of the pronotum rather than the whole insect's 'habitus' I'd go for this being a Carabid - a Ground Beetle.

I wouldn't like to do genus/species.

[Paul mabbott]

It looks to be a Nebria sp - with size and habitat details might be able to hazard a better guess but N. brevicollis is most common.
I've never seen this on a Nebria or any other carabid!

[Fauna]

I agee Wow!! Never seen an infection like this yet on a Ground beetle. I've come across several Pterostichus madidus (which yours is not) with fungal infections, they all looked like what stickman has in the below thread. I've actually found two beetles this year, plus a few other species with similar looking infections...most of which have been found attached to Ivy.

Fungus - Insect interactions

As Paul requested, size and habitat might help pin it down...

Regards Chris...

[Lancashire Lad]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the very useful replies - The beetle does indeed look like a Nebria sp. (and very like the N.brevicollis as suggested).

Habitat wise, the location was a mixed semi-natural woodland.

It was found about 18" above ground level, on an upturned and decorticated stump of an old conifer which had tumbled to the bottom of a steep sandy soiled bank.

Ground cover in the area is a mixture of typical grasses/Himalayan Balsam/Brambles/Mosses etc. etc.

The size of the beetle, (difficult to be precise, as there isn't much of it that's not fully enveloped by the fungus), is about 12-15mm in overall length. Certainly no more than 15mm.

I managed to return to the site today and have collected it for microscopy in relation to the fungus.

For anyone interested, any further input along that route will be posted on the Fungus-Insect Interactions thread:-
http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/fo...-new-post.html

Regards,
Mike.

[Klaas Reißmann]

Nebria brevicollis, wrong habitat for Nebria salina.

Regards
Klaas