Amara alpina

Amara alpina is a species of beetle of the genus Amara in the family Carabidae. It is native to northern parts of Europe and Asia. It was first described by the Swedish entomologist Gustaf von Paykull in 1790.

Amara alpina
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Carabidae
Genus: Amara
Species:
A. alpina
Binomial name
Amara alpina
(Paykull, 1790)
Synonyms[1]
  • Amara alaskana Csiki, 1929
  • Amara angustata J. R. Salberg, 1885
  • Amara birulai Poppius, 1913
  • Amara brunnipennis Dejean, 1831
  • Amara obtusa LeConte, 1855
  • Amara pullula Poppius, 1906
  • Amara subsulcata J. R. Salberg, 1880
  • Carabus alpinus Paykull, 1790
  • Curtonotus argutus Casey, 1918
  • Curtonotus caligatus Putzeys, 1866
  • Curtonotus cognatus Putzeys, 1866
  • Curtonotus deficiens Casey, 1918
  • Curtonotus inanis Casey, 1918
  • Curtonotus rubripennis Casey, 1918
  • Curtonotus subtilis Casey, 1924
  • Leirus boralis Chaudoir, 1843
  • Leirus brevicornis Ménétriés, 1851

Description

The adult length is 7.3 to 11.5 mm (0.29 to 0.45 in). This beetle is mainly black and the elytra are reddish-black and etched with fine longitudinal striations. The legs are often red.

Distribution

Amara alpina is a beetle of cold regions at high altitudes and high latitudes. Its range includes Norway, Sweden, Finland, Great Britain, Siberia and Mongolia. It is also present in Alaska,[2] and it recolonised Canada after the end of the last ice age. It is believed to have survived further south in western Beringia and the northern part of the contiguous United States, and moved northwards when conditions ameliorated and the ice retreated.[3]

Behaviour

In Scandinavia this beetle is often found on dwarf birch (Betula nana), dwarf willow (Salix herbacea), glacier buttercup (Ranunculus glacialis), alpine bearberry (Arctostaphylos alpina), moss bell heather (Harrimanella hypnoides), crowberry (Empetrum) and arctic wood-rush (Luzula nivalis).[4]

Amara alpina was one of three species of beetle that has been observed in Finland eating the dead bodies of other insects on snowfields.[5]

References
  1. Bousquet, Yves (2012). "Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico" (PDF). ZooKeys (245): 1–1722. doi:10.3897/zookeys.245.3416. PMC 3577090. PMID 23431087.
  2. "Amara alpina (Paykull, 1790)". Catalogue of Life. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  3. Heintzman, Peter (2011). "Postglacial recolonisation mode of North American Amara alpina (Carabidae: Coleoptera) using museum and ancient DNA". School of Biological Sciences PG Symposium. Retrieved 2014-12-02.
  4. Böcher, Jens (1989). "First record of an interstadial insect from Greenland: Amara alpina (Paykull, 1790) (Coleoptera: Carabidae)". Boreas. 18 (1): 1–4. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3885.1989.tb00364.x.
  5. Edwards, John S. (1972). "Arthropod Fallout on Alaskan Snow". Arctic and Alpine Research. 4 (2): 167–176. doi:10.2307/1550399. JSTOR 1550399.
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