Six-spot ground beetle

Description

Anthia sexguttata, the six-spot ground beetle, is a beetle of the Family Carabidae. Adults measure approximately 4 cm (1.5 inches), are black with six relatively large, white, dorsal spots (four over the elytra and two on the thorax). Other patterns are possible although the pattern is always symmetrical. The larva has a flattened form, a large head capsule, and prominent mandibles. The species occurs in the drier parts of South Asia. It is common in the scrub forests of southern India. Adult A. sexguttata feed on other insects and snails. Anthia (common name saber-toothed ground beetles) is a genus of the ground beetle family (Carabidae). Species of Anthia can spray a jet of formic acid up to 30 centimetres (12 in), which if not treated, can cause blindness in animals which harass the beetles. In general the beetles are large, armored, fast-moving, with prominent, powerful, sharp mandibles. Some are diurnal predators in semi-arid habitats, some are nocturnal. The genus is one of a group of similar taxa of predatory Carabidae that has been the subject of considerable nomenclatural confusion. Several species here and elsewhere included within the genus Anthia are occasionally referred to as belonging to the non-existent genus Thermophilum (e.g. Anthia fornasinii referred to as Thermophilum fornasinii), because the spelling has experienced a range of errors; the spelling that is valid under the ICZN and currently accepted is Termophilum but Thermophilum (an unjustified emendation of Termophilum) and Thermophila (a junior homonym of a valid genus name in the order Lepidoptera) have been variously used in the past, as well as the misspelling "Thermophilium".