Ground beetles are members of the Carabidae family, which contains around 350 species in Britain. Most ground beetles are voracious predators and are occasionally a nuisance indoors by their presence. Homeowners may confuse these beetles for cockroaches, wood boring beetles or some other household structural pest. Some beetles are attracted to lights and enter the home by crawling through small openings and cracks in windows, doors, foundations, etc. Ground beetles normally live outdoors and do not establish themselves indoors.
Identification: 12 – 25mm in length, mainly black in colour, some enhanced by iridescent, metallic blue, green, purple, reddish or other bright markings. Both adults and larvae are considered beneficial since they feed on larvae of many harmful insects.
Biology: Eggs are normally laid singly in the soil and hatch into elongate larvae tapered toward the end. Pupation occurs in the soil. The life cycle of most species is usually completed within a year, although adults may live 2 to 3 years or longer.
Control: Not considered a public health pest, proofing of doors and removal of harbourages will discourage this casual intruder from entering buildings, wall/floor junctions can be treated with a residual insecticide labelled for crawling insect use.
Products to control Ground Beetles:
Ecorex Action Plus (1L) Ecorex Action Plus is an insecticide product for professional use against flying and crawling insects.
Mostyn Duo CS (500ml) Mostyn Duo CS is a broad-spectrum insecticide with remarkable killing power, excellent flushing out and knock down action, with good residual activity.
Cypro WP (250g) Wettable powder, containing the powerful synthetic pyrethroid cypermethrin. This has excellent insecticidal qualities and good ‘flushing’ and ‘knock-down’ effect.
