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🧬 Biological Classification (Kingdom to Species)Carabus blaptoides

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Coleoptera

Family

Carabidae

Genus

Carabus

Species

Carabus blaptoides

Insecta🥩 Carnivore

Snail-eating beetle

Carabus blaptoides (Snail-eating beetle · マイマイカブリ)

🛡️ Conservation Status (IUCN Red List)NE (Not Evaluated)

Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List yet.

Geological Era

Extant

Diet

Carnivore

Length · Height

No data · No data

Mass · Top Speed

No data · No data

Habitat & Fossil Locality

Forests of the Japanese archipelago (Honshu and nearby islands) where land snails live

💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed

💡 Having a body length exceeding 30 mm means it is longer than a Korean 500-won coin (diameter 26.5 mm) (Comparison; the paper gives only a lower bound).
💡 A ZooKeys paper explains that this beetle has large mandibles that allow it to easily crush the shells of small snails.

Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.

#마이마이카부리#Carabus blaptoides

📖 1. Overview

The snail-eating beetle is a ground beetle in the family Carabidae endemic to the Japanese archipelago that feeds on land snails at every growth stage. There are 7 subspecies within Japan.

🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology

It is a large flightless beetle lacking hindwings, and a ZooKeys paper notes that its body length exceeds 30 mm. There are forms with a wide, short head and thorax and forms with a narrow, elongated head and thorax: the short form crushes the shells of small snails, while the elongated form inserts its head into the shell to eat the body.

🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior

From larva to adult, it eats land snails. In areas with small snails, the short-headed shell-crushing form appears, whereas in areas with large snails, the long-headed shell-inserting form appears, giving the beetle different body shapes across regions.