Beetles of North Carolina
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Scientific Name: Common Name:
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View Carabidae Members:
Members of Trechus:
1 NC Records

Trechus pseudosubtilis Donabauer, 2009 - No Common Name

Taxonomy
Family: Carabidae Subfamily: Trechinae                                                             
Comments: One of 82 species in this genus that have been recorded in North America north of Mexico, 42 of which occur in North Carolina (Bosquet, 2012). Trechus pseudosubtilis belongs to subgenus Microtrechus and was included in the Vandykei Species Group by Donabauer (2009). In addition to pseudosubtilis, Bosquet (2012) includes 10 other species in this group, one of which occur the mountains of southwest Virginia and the rest in the North Carolina mountains or on the ridges forming the border between North Carolina and Tennessee.
Species Status: The type locality is Cataloochee Balsam in the Great Smoky Mountains
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Resources: BugGuide, Wikipedia, GBIF   iNaturalistTechnical Description, Adults/Nymphs: Donabauer (2009)                                                              
Comments: "Body dark reddish piceous, paler on head, along suture and along sides of elytra; elytra shiny with strong bluish lustre; legs pale, contrasting with body; first segments of antenna pale, segment 3 or 4 and all following darker." (Donabauer, 2009). Members of this genus generally show too little variation in pattern for standard photographs to be used to identify particular species.
Total Length [body plus wings; excludes ovipositor]: 2.9-3.2 mm
Structural Features: As a member of subgenus Microtrechus, only the first segment of front tarsus is enlarged in males. This species is distinguished from other members of its species group morphometrically and by features of the aedeagus (Donabauer, 2009).
Distribution in North Carolina
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥
 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) <
 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)
Click on graph to enlarge
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: Cataloochee Balsam is 5,970' in elevation and covered in an extensive stand of Spruce-fir Forest. "All specimens sifted from wet or humid leaf litter" Donabauer (2009)
See also Habitat Account for Spruce-Fir Forests
Diet: Predatory on small insects and other invertebrates
Observation Methods:
Abundance/Frequency:
Adult Phenology: Not enough information exists for this species to determine its phenology
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status: [SR]
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: [GNR] [S1]
State Protection:
Comments: As a species restricted to just a single stand of Spruce-fir Forests located on a high elevation ridgetop in the North Carolina mountains, it is probably highly vulnerable to the warming and drying impacts of climate change and to the other factors that are degrading and opening up the canopy of the Spruce-fir Forests upon which it depends for its microclimate.