''Amara aenea'' is a

ground beetle Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family (biology), family of beetles, the Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, around 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 in Europe. As of 2015, it i ...

common in almost the whole of Europe and Northern Asia. Its range covers also parts of Northern Africa. It is known as the common sun beetle. ''A. aenea'' adults are predators that eat other insects, such as the

apple maggot The apple maggot (''Rhagoletis pomonella''), also known as the railroad worm (but distinct from the '' Phrixothrix'' beetle larva, also called railroad worm), is a species of fruit fly, and a pest of several types of fruits, especially apples. ...

and

soybean aphid The soybean aphid (''Aphis glycines'') is an insect pest of soybean (''Glycine max'') that is exotic to North America. The soybean aphid is native to Asia. It has been described as a common pest of soybeans in China and as an occasional pest of ...

, which are considered pests by the

agriculture industry Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming (as opposed to extensive farming), conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of ag ...

. As such, this beetle is under study for use in

integrated pest management Integrated pest management (IPM), also known as integrated pest control (IPC) is a broad-based approach that integrates both chemical and non-chemical practices for economic control of pests. IPM aims to suppress pest populations below the econ ...

. Larvae are

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutri ...

. The adults feed on the developing seed of ''

Poa trivialis ''Poa trivialis'' (rough bluegrass; ''UK:'' rough-stalked meadow-grass or rough meadow-grass), is a perennial plant regarded in the US as an ornamental plant. It is part of the Poaceae, grass family. Description It is very common in meadows an ...

'' and smooth meadow grass ''

Poa pratensis ''Poa pratensis'', commonly known as Kentucky bluegrass (or blue grass), smooth meadow-grass, or common meadow-grass, is a perennial species of grass native to practically all of Europe, North Asia and the mountains of Algeria and Morocco. Altho ...

''.

References

External links

* aenea Beetles of Europe Beetles of Asia Beetles described in 1774 Taxa named by Charles De Geer {{Pterostichinae-stub