Ground Beetles Are Helpful Garden Insects

By Barbara Pleasant
Published on January 15, 2013
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Illustration By Keith Ward
The busy ground beetles' diet can help control slugs, asparagus beetles, caterpillars, Colorado potato beetles, corn earworms, cutworms, squash vine borers and tobacco budworms.

This article is part of ourOrganic Pest Control Series, which includes articles on attracting beneficial insects, controlling specific garden pests, and using organic pesticides.  

Ground Beetles (Coleoptera)

Most of the 2,500 ground beetle species are one-eighth to 1 1/2 inches long, dark, shiny and hard-shelled. Shape and color varies among species, with most being brown to black while others have metallic backs. Ground beetles live in the soil beneath mulches, around compost piles, or in the sheltered areas around perennials plants. Some of these beneficial garden insects create vertical tunnels that they use to ambush and trap prey, but most ground beetles wander about feeding at night. Compared with other garden insects, ground beetles are long-lived and may inhabit the garden for more than a year, overwintering as adults.

Ground Beetle Diet  

Ground beetles will try to eat almost anything that moves, including asparagus beetles, cabbage worms, Colorado potato beetles, corn earworms, cutworms and slugs. Some are also important consumers of weed seeds. Ground beetles also eat earthworms, but their benefits outweigh this small flaw. Ground beetles cannot climb, so their foraging range is limited to the soil’s surface and top few inches of moist soil. 

How to Attract Ground Beetles 

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