A peer-reviewed open-access journal ZooKeys 14: 1-36 (2009)Economically Benefi cial Ground Beetles. Th e specialized predators... 1 doi: 10.3897/zookeys.14.188 RESEARCH ARTICLE www.pensoftonline.net/zookeys Launched to accelerate biodiversity research Economically Beneficial Ground Beetles. The specialized predators Pheropsophus aequinoctialis (L.) and Stenaptinus jessoensis (Morawitz): Their laboratory behavior and descriptions of immature stages (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Brachininae) J. Howard Frank1, Terry L. Erwin2, Robert C. Hemenway1 1 Entomology and Nematology Dept., University of Florida, Gainesville, U.S.A. 2 Department of Entomology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, U.S.A. Corresponding author: Howard Frank (
[email protected] .edu) Academic editor: Th orsten Assmann | Received 25 April 2009 | Accepted 26 June 2009 | Published 10 July 2009 Citation: Frank JH, Erwin TL, Hemenway RC (2009) Economically Benefi cial Ground Beetles. Th e specialized preda- tors Pheropsophus aequinoctialis (L.) and Stenaptinus jessoensis (Morawitz): Th eir laboratory behavior and descriptions of immature stages (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Brachininae). ZooKeys 14: 1-36. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.14.188 Abstract Adults of Pheropsophus aequinoctialis (L.) (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Brachininae, Brachinini), are largely nocturnal predators and scavengers on animal and plant materials. Th e daily food consumption of a pair of adults is the equivalent to 1.2-2.3 large larvae of Trichoplusia ni (Hübner) (Lepidoptera, Noctui- dae). Larvae developed under laboratory conditions on a diet restricted to mole cricket eggs (Orthop- tera, Gryllotalpidae); none survived under any other diet off ered, thus they are specialists. Large num- bers of brachinine eggs were laid in the laboratory, even on a paper towel substrate, and in all months of the year albeit with a strong suggestion of an annual peak in oviposition.