Bug FAQMargined Snail-eating Beetle
Scaphinotus marginatus · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Carabidae
Adults have short wings and are active at night. They live in coniferous, mixed and deciduous forests, often near streams and lakes. They hunt and eat snails and slugs.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Adults are short-winged and active at night.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults have reduced wings and are nocturnal.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
They prey on snails and slugs.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
They occur in North America, especially western Canada and the United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 10 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, Montana, California, North Carolina, Idaho.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What habitats do they prefer?
They prefer coniferous, mixed and deciduous forests, often near streams and lakes.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Carabidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaphinotus_marginatus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.