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Scientific name Carabus (Coptolabrus) nankotaizanus Kano, 1932
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Chinese name 台灣擬食蝸步行蟲、南湖擬食蝸步行蟲
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English name
Nanhutashan Ground Beetle, Formosan False Snail-eating
Ground Beetle |
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Classification 步行蟲科(Carabidae)
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Diagnosis
Body length about 6 cm. Head and thorax metallic red or
slightly green dorsaly; elytra black with metallic red
or greenish red margins; surface of elytra with numerous
punctuations and verrucae; all legs black without spinulet
on femur. |
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Distribution
According to specimens examined, this species is widely
distributed from lowland to medium elevation of the whole
island, but scattered and localized.。 |
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Habitat and Ecology
This rare ground beetle mostly inhabits in the ground
layer of primary forests. Both the larvae and adult prey
on land snails and other smaller invertebrates. Biological
and ecological information in detail of the whole subgenus
is extremely rare. Kim & Park (1999) reported the
larval stages of a closely related taxon Carabus (Coptolabrus)
smaragdinus branickii (Taczanowski). This carabid beetle
has two larval instars and need about 70 days from eggs
to adults. The adult shows somewhat polyphagous while
the larva is exclusively malacophagous. In addition, Kleinfeld
& Goergner (1992) reported their observation of ecology
and behavior of Carabus (Coptolabrus) lafossei saturatus
Hauser from China. |
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Threats and Conservation Status
This species is the only representative of the subgenus
Coptolabrus in Taiwan. Most species of this subgenus are
threatened by habitat destruction, commercial collecting
and international specimen trading. The relative species
Carabus (Coptolabrus) lafossei Feisthamel is also protected
by the Forest Law in the mainland China. |
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Remarks
At present , there are six available subspecific or specific
names described for this species, viz. ssp. nankotaizanus
(Nanhutashan), ssp. shimonoyai Kurosawa et Kudo (Lalashan),
ssp. miwai Kurosawa (C. Taiwan), ssp. taiwanicus Kryjanovski
(Chipen), ssp. poschingeri Korell (Taipei) and ssp. inopinatus
Mandl (Peinanchushan). However, the real collecting localities
of each of the types are in question. More recently, Deuve
(1997) suggested to lump all names to nankotaizanus. In
the present Wildlife Conservation Law, the specific name
of this species is mis-spelt as "nankototaijanus". |
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