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

Trechus satanicus Barr, 1962 - 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 satanicus belongs to subgenus Microtrechus and is included in the Uncifer Species Group by Barr (1979). In addition to satanicus, Bosquet (2012) includes 10 other species, all of which occur in the North Carolina mountains or on the ridges forming the border between North Carolina and Tennessee.
Species Status: The type locality is the Graveyard Fields in the Great Balsam Mountains (Barr, 1962)
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Resources: BugGuide, Wikipedia, GBIF   iNaturalistTechnical Description, Adults/Nymphs: Barr (1962)                                                              
Comments: "Dark piceous, shining, microsculpture a fine, transverse network on pronotum and elytra"(Barr, 1962). 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]: 3.2-3.5 mm, mean 3.3 (Barr, 1962)
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 (Barr, 1962, 1979).
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: The sites where this species has been recorded once supported a large expanse of Spruce-fir Forest but the area was apparently badly damaged by storms or logging in the early 20th Century and subsequently burned in two catastrophic fires that have kept it in an early successional state. Barr (1962) collected the type specimens in a large blackberry patch but later samples were from areas supporting Northern Hardwoods, with Spruce-fir sparsely present.
See also Habitat Account for General High Elevation Forests
Diet: Predatory on small insects and other invertebrates
Observation Methods:
Abundance/Frequency: Barr (1962) considered this species to be rare at the type locality
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: GH [G1] [S1]
State Protection:
Comments: Although NatureServe (accessed 2021-01-07) considers this species to be possibly extinct, it has been recorded on a couple of occasions within the last twenty years, including as recently as 2018. Nonetheless, it is known only from a very small area on a single high mountain ridge and is likely to be vulnerable to the warming and drying impacts of climate change.