Southwestern and south-central France; despite its name, it is a French endemic rather than an Iberian species.
Fine-art photographic collection
Carabus (Chrysocarabus) hispanus
A jewel-bright ground beetle whose scent alone can make slugs change their behaviour.
About this species
Carabus (Chrysocarabus) hispanusFabricius, 1787
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Carabus hispanus is a large flightless predator of southwestern European forests. It hunts molluscs and other invertebrates, while prey can detect chemical traces from the beetle before physical contact occurs.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Carabidae · Carabus
The gallery uses Chrysocarabus hispanus. GBIF/Catalogue of Life accepts Carabus (Chrysocarabus) hispanus Fabricius, 1787. · checked 2026-07-15
Southwestern FranceBroad documented range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
What makes this species remarkable?
Experiments showed that slugs respond to chemical cues from Carabus predators, altering shelter use before the beetle ever reaches them.
The beetle is flightless because the hind wings are reduced and the wing cases are effectively locked into a rigid protective shell.
Its blue, green, violet and copper colours are structural reflections from the exoskeleton, producing a living metallic surface rather than pigment alone.
Sources and scientific references
More photographs
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