Adults can reach about 40 mm.
Fine-art photographic collection
Anthia sexmaculata
A flightless desert hunter armed with an eye-targeting chemical spray.
About this species
Anthia sexmaculata(Fabricius, 1787)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Anthia sexmaculata is a large, fast-running ground beetle that has traded flight for speed and chemical defence. When threatened it can direct a powerful spray from the tip of the abdomen at an attacker.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Carabidae · Anthia
Accepted species or infraspecific taxon in the current GBIF/Catalogue of Life treatment; unsupported details have been omitted rather than inferred. · checked 2026-07-15
North Africa and the Middle EastBroad documented range and selected occurrence localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Northern Africa and adjacent parts of the Middle East, especially arid and desert regions.
Desert and semi-desert habitats with open, hot ground.
Ground-active in warm conditions.
Predatory on other insects and arthropods.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
The adult cannot fly, but its long legs turn it into an exceptionally fast runner across open desert ground.
It can aim an irritating defensive jet towards an attacker’s face; contact with human eyes has caused serious chemical injury.
Its larva follows ant trails into a nest, feeds on ants and their brood, then acquires the colony’s odour strongly enough to move among the workers.
More photographs
9