Bug FAQPale-legged Gazelle Beetle
Nebria pallipes · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Carabidae
The pale-legged gazelle beetle is a black beetle with orange legs; males are larger than females. Adults are active at night, live in groups, and hunt other animals for food. It is found in eastern North America.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Both sexes are black with orange legs.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Males are larger than females.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults are carnivorous and hunt other animals.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults are gregarious, nocturnal, and carnivorous.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are gregarious, nocturnal, and carnivorous.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It occurs in eastern North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 19 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Vermont, New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Maryland.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
Same family (Carabidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebria_pallipes
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-25 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-25.