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ground beetle
noun
: any of a large cosmopolitan family (Carabidae) of soil-inhabiting usually carnivorous often shiny black or metallic beetles commonly having fused elytra
Examples of ground beetle in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
According to The Guardian, entomologist Terry Erwin named a species of ground beetle found in Costa Rica in 2002 after Titanic actress Kate Winslet, calling the insect Agra katewinsletae.
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Kelli Bender, People.com, 1 Dec. 2024
Photo: Ellie Atkins A 21-year-old Potter’s drawings of a ground beetle.
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Lisa Wong MacAbasco, Vogue, 5 Mar. 2024
While their slimy coatings deter some would-be-predators, raccoons, opossums, snakes, moles, toads, shrews, turtles, ground beetles, and birds, such as ducks, starlings, and thrushes, devour them with gusto.
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Paul Richards, Field & Stream, 29 Feb. 2024
The show includes an 1887 drawing of the magnified parts of a ground beetle, a reminder of the rich natural detail that would mark her stories.
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J.s. Marcus, WSJ, 21 Jan. 2022
Because ground beetles are nocturnal and more active during night hours, Will typically started his sampling days just before sunset and ended them between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. In September of that year, Maddison and Sproul finished collecting and analyzing the beetle’s DNA.
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Praveena Somasundaram, Washington Post, 31 Mar. 2023
Potter’s scientific drawings of a ground beetle, ca. 1887.
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J.s. Marcus, WSJ, 21 Jan. 2022
This is perhaps the most unusual beetle in the hugely diverse Carabidae family of ground beetles.
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Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Apr. 2020
Natural controls of spiders, big-eyed bugs, ground beetles and a variety of parasites already in your lawn may help eliminate these turf pests.
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Tom MacCubbin, orlandosentinel.com, 22 June 2019
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Word History
First Known Use
1848, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near ground beetle
Cite this Entry
“Ground beetle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ground%20beetle. Accessed 10 Feb. 2025.
More from Merriam-Webster on ground beetle
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about ground beetle
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