Notiophilus nitens
Notiophilus nitens
Size: 4.9-5.1mm
Seasonality: late March-October
Distribution; Western USA and Canada
Information: may be found among leaf litter in forested areas, or relatively dry coastal prairies.
Description: body: elongate-oblong, slender. Head large, eyes robust, bulging strongly. Head widely triangular, face short, narrow. Clypeus wrinkled deeply, rough, metallic violet; labrum small, smooth, purple-grey. Mandibles small, curved close to the face, covered mostly by the labrum. Head riddled with long, deep furrows, spanning down the face; furrow interval at centre of the head wider, appears rough, generally dull metallic bronze or gold. Dorsal faces of the head mottles black, violet, gold, bronze, and blue-grey. Antennae short, barely longer than the head length. Scapus short, pale brown to yellow, pedicel and first two segments following the pedicel also pale brown to yellow; rest of antennae dark. The scapus should have one long, thick, dark seta protruding forwards; antennal pubescence pale, beginning on the second half of the second antennomere following the pedicel, or on the third. Pronotum somewhat hexagonal; hind angles obtuse, nearly squared, lateral margins proceed to move steadily outwards, then abruptly turn towards the base of the head, this angle occurs very near to the head, and has one long seta protruding from it on each occurrence. From there the margins curve inwards briefly, then towards the head again to form the pronotal apex. Lateral margins weakly upturned near the head. Dorsal surfaces of the pronotum heavily pitted and wrinkled, dark metallic bronze-black. Pits and wrinkles are shallow, median line shallow, but defined, one smooth portion of the disk may be found on either side of the median line. Pronotal basal margin overlaps the elytral base, though most of the scutellum should be visible. 7-8 striae per elytron, all formed by lines of shallow, minute pits. The first striation should be beside the elytral suture, followed by a smooth, black gap about the width of three intervals, after which the remaining striae are regularly occurring. The first or second interval after the large gap should contain an 'O' shaped pit, often creating an X-like connection of the 2nd and 3rd or 3rd and 4th striae; occuring almost halfway down the elytra from the humeral shoulder. Lateral elytral margins rounded, slightly upturned; apices pointed, but rounded off; dorsal colouration of the apices yellowish, rest of elytra some sort of metallic black-bronze. Ventral faces on abdomen metallic grey-bronze, legs of similar colour, prosternum and proepisternum metallic greenish-gold or bronze. Head genae colouration similar to the prosternum.