Two-spotted ground beetle

Description

Anthia thoracica, the two-spotted ground beetle, is a species of beetles of the family Carabidae. Anthia thoracica can reach a length of about 47–53 millimetres (1.9–2.1 in). Body is black, with an ovate patch of yellowish setae on each lateral extension of the pronotum and a band of whitish reclinate setae on the lateral margins of elytra. Mandibles are strong and elongate in males. Pronotum has broad lateral flanges and elytra are ovate and smooth, with eight linear striae. This species can be found in Namibia, Tanzania and South Africa. 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".