ground beetle

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. See carabid.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A predatory beetle of the family Carabidœ: so called from its mode of life, most of the species being found running over the ground or hidden during the day under stones and other objects. The number of genera and species is very large; they are distributed through all continents from the polar zones to the tropics. They are carnivorous for the most part, though some genera of the group Harpalinæ are occasionally or even habitually herbivorous. The fiery ground-beetle, Calosoma calidum, is one of the most conspicuous carnivorous species. To the herbivorous group belongs the murky ground-beetle, Harpalus caliginosus, which is abundant in the northerly parts of the United States; H. pennsylvanicus is a related species. See cut under Harpalus.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Zoöl.) one of numerous species of carnivorous beetles of the family Carabidæ, living mostly in burrows or under stones, etc.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. predacious shining black or metallic terrestrial beetle that destroys many injurious insects