Calosoma (s. str.) inquisitor (Linnaeus, 1758)

Pavlou, Christoforos, Bolanakis, Giannis, Kardaki, Ljubitsa & Trichas, Apostolos, 2025, Forty years of ground-beetle sampling in Crete. A major contribution to the Carabidae (Coleoptera, Adephaga) fauna of Crete (Greece), Contributions to Entomology 75 (2), pp. 269-288 : 269-288

2. Calosoma (s. str.) inquisitor (Linnaeus, 1758)

Fig. 2 A

Habitat and general distribution.

Calosoma inquisitor has a wide distribution in Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, Middle and Far East ( Häckel 2017). It is a forest dwelling species, frequently spotted to prey on caterpillars in trees and bushes ( Trautner and Geigenmüller 1987; Arndt et al. 2011).

Material examined.

• Heraklion: Rouvas Forest by the monastery , 35.169894°N, 24.922200°E, 1100 m elev., 6.V.1990 – 27.XI.1990, pitfall traps, 3 spms, leg. Trichas A. ( NHMC) ; • Psiloritis, Nida plateau SW slopes , 35.196594°N, 24.821603°E, 1762 m elev., 13.I.1991, 1 spm, handpicking, leg. Trichas A. ( NHMC) ; • Rethymnon: Psiloritis, Akolita plateau in sub-alpine phrygana , 35.198692°N, 24.793800°E, 1900 m elev., 6.V.1990 – 13.I.1991, pitfall traps, 9 spms, leg. Trichas A. ( NHMC) ; • Psiloritis, Akolita plateau , 35.197291°N, 24.791999°E, 1900 m elev., 14.IV.2000 – 2.VII.2000, 120 spms, pitfall traps, leg. Chatzaki M. ( NHMC) ; • same data, but: 31.X.2000 – 12.VI.2001, 70 spms ; same data, but: 35.209192°N, 24.792997°E, 2213 m elev., 16 spms .

Comments.

Csiki (1914), summarising all previous classic works on Cretan Coleoptera fauna in his “ Fauna Coleopterorum Insulae Cretae ”, reported only C. sycophanta (Linnaeus, 1758) and C. maderae from Crete. Calosoma inquisitor (Linnaeus, 1758) is reported from Crete for the first time by Breuning (1927), from specimens deposited in the collections of the Natural History Museum of Vienna (“ Mus. Vindob. ”). Later on, Jeannel (1941) listed again C. inquisitor in Crete (“ Crète et îles de la mer Égée ”) without any further details, most probably based on Breuning’s references. Trichas (1996), provided fresh C. inquisitor specimens from Ida Mt., including also the above references as valid, in his doctoral dissertation of South Aegean Archipelago ground-dwelling beetles. More recently, Arndt et al. (2011) also listed C. sycophanta and C. maderae on Crete, but excluded C. inquisitor from the island. Finally, C. inquisitor is included in the appendix of Kaltsas et al. (2013), albeit this is an ecological work, so the species references could easily be overlooked when compiling faunal records. Moreover, as no other (specimen based) records for this taxon in Crete have been presented in the international literature between 1927–2013, this is the first detailed cataloguing of C. inquisitor on the island for almost a century. Clearly, C. inquisitor forms robust populations in the mountain of Psiloritis (Ida Mt.), especially on higher altitudes, found both in forests and mountain shrublands. Additionally, although there are dozens of specimens of C. sycophanta in the NHMC collections, from almost all larger Cretan Mountain massifs (Ida, Dikti, Thrypti – except Lefka Ori Mts. where only C. maderae have been observed twice, see below), C. inquisitor seems to be confined only on the central Cretan massif (Ida).

Figures

Figure 2. A. Calosoma inquisitor; B. Calosoma maderae; C. Carabus graecus trojanus; D. Brachinus plagiatus; E. Brachinus psophia; F. Clivia ypsilon; G. Sirdenus grayii; H. Scarites eurytus; I. Scarites buparius. Scale bars: 5.5 mm (A); 7.75 mm (B); 5 mm (C); 3 mm (D); 2.5 mm (E); 1.75 mm (F); 1.1 mm (G); 6.4 mm (H); 6.8 mm (I).