Scaphinotus elevatus is found from New England into Florida and west at least to Ilinois and Missouri. Scaphinotus elevatus is one of the more unusual beetles found in North America. The unusual sculptered thorax combined with a reddish sheen makes this a very unusual beetle. The length is usually between 1.8 and 1.9 cm.

We note a few subspecies as listed in an older publication:
S. elevatus coloradensis - Manitoba, Nebraska, and New Mexico
S. elevatus elevatus - N Hampshire to Florida, east to east Texas
S. elevatus flammeus - Ohio to Nebraska and Tenn. to Arkansas
S. elevatus length - South eastern Virginia
S. elevatus neomexicana - Southern New Mexico
S. tenebricosus - New Jersey to coastal S. Carolina

Scaphinotus genus is generally found from the Appalachian Mountains west throughout Arkansas into Arizona and New Mexico. Species are found as far north as New England and as far south as Florida. Leng in 1920 listed about 16 species in the Scaphinotus genus including those in the Irichroa sub-genus. Several of the species in the Scaphinotus genus have unusual colors and unusual thorax shapes that once seen are not easily forgotten.

The 16 Leng species were:
* 117 Scaphinotus snowi, New Mexico
118 Scaphinotus roeschkei (include ssp fuchsi), Arizona (Now a subspecies of petersi)
* 119 Scaphinotus vandykei, Arizona
120 Scaphinotus corvus, Arizona (Near S. mexicanus- status?)
* 121 Scaphinotus petersi, Arizona
* 122 Scaphinotus mexicanus, Arizona
123 Scaphinotus biedermani, Arizona (Now a subspecies of S. petersi)
* 124 Scaphinotus kelloggi, New Mexico
* 125 Scaphinotus elevatus (incl a-tenebricosus, tenebrosus. unicolor, heros, b. flammeus, dilatatus, c. floridanus), Conn to Florida and west to Colorado)
126 Scaphinotus coloradensis, Colorado (now a sub of elevatus)
* 127 Scaphinotus unicolor ((a.heros, b. showmakeri)
* 128 Scaphinotus viduus (unicolor, a. irregularis, b. leonardi)

The * species have remained in the Scaphinotus genus.

The next four lifeforms have been moved to the Steniridia genus with germari becoming a subspecies of andrewsi)
129 Scaphinotus andrewsi (a. aenicollis, purpuratus,b. tricarinatus, c. violaceus), N. Carolina, Georgia
130 Scaphinotus germari, Pennsylvania to Indiana
131 Scaphinotus guyoti, (angeli), Noth Carolina
132 Scaphinotus ridingsi, (a. monongahelae), Virgina to D.C.

(A lower case latter in the above list means the subspecies was recognized. Those names not preceeded by a lower case letter would be synonyms.)

Scaphinotus unicolor: The name unicolor appears as a subspecies of both elevatus and viduus. It also appears as a full species.

These four appear to be new additions to the genus
*Scaphinotus webbi (Now a full species can be found in W. Virginia)
*Scaphinotus parisianus. Described in Europe by by Allen and Carlton in 1988
*Scaphinotus macrogonus (Previously part of S. mexicanus)
*Scaphinotus irregularis, SW Virginia to N. Georgia. (Was sub of S. viduus)

In summary we began with 16 Leng species and now count 12.
8 Remain
4 Additional (New or promoted subspecies)

And finally, we are not sure about the status of Irichroa viridis of the Appalachian region.

Snail Eaters (Cychrini Tribe) are a group of beetles that live on forest floors in damp areas. There is a large concentration of species in this tribe in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. These beetles typically feed on land snails. Their elongated head and mouth parts permit entry in snail shells to obtain their food.

The 1920 Leng list of North American beetles lists about 47 species. The Scaphinotus genus contains some of the larger species in the tribe, while the Sphaeroderus genus contains some of the smaller species. Per Leng, and older work, other genera found in North America are: Nomaretus, Maronetes, Pseudonomaretus, Phemphus, Brennus, Neocychrus, and Cychrus

.(The Irichroa genus belongs in or near the Scaphinotus genus. The Pemphis genus now is included in the Stenocantharus genus)

There have been recent additions and changes to the Leng list. These are listed per about 2019. The number of species in each group is shown in parentheses. There appear to be about 61 full species, and many of those have multiple subspecies.

Brennus (15), Cychrus (2), Maronetes (6), Neocychrus (3), Nomaretus (5), Pseudonomaretus (4), Scaphinotus (11), Steniridia (7), Stenocantheris (3), and Sphaeroderus (15)

Ground Beetles, family Carabidae, are usually small beetles that live on the forest floor. They can run quite well as they generally have well-developed legs. Many Carabidae are carnivorous in that they eat other insects. The family is distributed worldwide.

The Carabus group of beetles contains some very beautiful kinds. The Coptolabrus group of China and the Chrysocarabus group of Europe are especially beautiful. The taxonomy in the Carabus group is very complicated as the group achieves its greatest development in various mountain areas, and each valley has its own color variations.

Beginning beetle scientists are initially drawn to the large beetles such as Goliathus, Dynastes, and Megasoma. The advanced student of exotic beetles will end up studying the Carabus group.

To facilitate study of the Carabus and Calosoma groups, we have raised segments of those two genera to tribe level in an attempt to help create a logical drill down taxonomy. For the Carabus group we have used Deuve 2004 for the main divisions.

Beetles (Order Coleoptera) are a diverse group of insects found throughout the world. They usually can fly and typically have four wings. Two of the wings are hardened (elytra) and serve as a body cover to protect the flying wings and abdomen. Beetles begin their life as a larvae or grub that goes through a metamorphosis that turns this worm-like creature into an adult with six legs and four wings. There probably are over 500,000 species of beetles in the world. However, that number is only conjecture as the United States does not have a complete list of its known species.

The United States has relatively few exotic beetles. However, countries like Brazil, Mexico, Ghana, Zaire, Malaysia, and Peru have many beautiful beetles.

Exotic beetles are such a fascination in Europe and Japan that they are collected much as coins are collected throughout the rest of the world.

Insects (Class Insecta) are the most successful animals on Earth if success is measured by the number of species or the total number of living organisms. This class contains more than a million species, of which North America has approximately 100,000. (Recent estimates place the number of worldwide species at four to six million.)

Insects have an exoskeleton. The body is divided into three parts. The foremost part, the head, usually bears two antennae. The middle part, the thorax, has six legs and usually four wings. The last part, the abdomen, is used for breathing and reproduction.

Although different taxonomists divide the insects differently, about thirty-five different orders are included in most of the systems.

The following abbreviated list identifies some common orders of the many different orders of insects discussed herein:

Odonata: - Dragon and Damsel Flies
Orthoptera: - Grasshoppers and Mantids
Homoptera: - Cicadas and Misc. Hoppers
Diptera: - Flies and Mosquitoes
Hymenoptera: - Ants, Wasps, and Bees
Lepidoptera: - Butterflies and Moths
Coleoptera: - Beetles


Jointed Legged Animals (Phylum Arthropoda) make up the largest phylum. There are probably more than one million different species of arthropods known to science. It is also the most successful animal phylum in terms of the total number of living organisms.

Butterflies, beetles, grasshoppers, various insects, spiders, and crabs are well-known arthropods.

The phylum is usually broken into the following five main classes:
Arachnida: - Spiders and Scorpions
Crustacea: - Crabs and Crayfish
Chilopoda: - Centipedes
Diplopoda: - Millipedes
Insecta: - Insects

There are several other "rare" classes in the arthropods that should be mentioned. A more formal list is as follows:

Sub Phylum Chelicerata
C. Arachnida: - Spiders and scorpions
C. Pycnogonida: - Sea spiders (500 species)
C. Merostomata: - Mostly fossil species

Sub Phylum Mandibulata
C. Crustacea: - Crabs and crayfish

Myriapod Group
C. Chilopoda: - Centipedes
C. Diplopoda: - Millipedes
C. Pauropoda: - Tiny millipede-like
C. Symphyla: - Garden centipedes

Insect Group
C. Insecta: - Insects

The above list does not include some extinct classes of Arthropods such as the Trilobites.

Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

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