i think its ringo ...

gardengal48 you just made my day :-). Thank you!!!

Several weeks back we sprayed nematodes to deal with the larvae for Japaneses beetles which we were inundated with last year ( also already sprayed in the fall), still finding some live and some dying larvae though....So, good news are totally welcome!

That looks like a scarab to me, not a carabid. I could be mistaken of course, but the hind leg isn't that of a typical ground beetle and the overall look is very scarablike.

If your garden is healthy, there's no reason to do anything. (Many scarab larvae can be somewhat damaging to roots, but it depends on the species.)

Well done ken-_adrian ! I am so used to your grumpy old ways that your joke almost went over my head. It came so out of the blue..

Ground beetles have longish, segmented, nearly thread-like antennae, not shortish, elbowed antennae like above.

Ground beetles do not have legs that are spiny along their length, rather, they are smooth.

Ground beetles overall have more delicate features and some iridescence, rather than the scarab beetles above that are built like a tank. The beetles above are very similar to the exceedingly common May Beetle (June Bug).

In general, scarab beetles are a garden pest.

Did you see lots of these beetles (yes, scarabs)? What is your general location? And did you happen to come across any of their larvae, called grubs.

grubs can usually be found in the lawn.. in the grass roots.. if you might care to dig up a small patch to find them.. though i should say.. usually there are dead patches all over the lawn.. because they are eating the roots..

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=grub+lawn+damage&t=ffab&iax=images&ia=images

when there is a bad infestation.. the robins start digging around and eating them ...

as with any bug..one or a few is never a problem..

its when its one of those 10 year plague events.. and there are millions of them ... and that is when some action needs to be taken... unless yo just want to go all morticia... and like leaf less plants...

https://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/39700000/Morticia-trimming-roses-animated-gif-the-addams-family-1964-39772240-500-367.gif

how large is your plague.. if any

ken

As I said, we did spray nematodes to get rid of grubs. Once in the fall, and again this spring. Mainly because we were inundated with Japanese beetles last year that decimated whatever they could get their mouths on. We still find grubs though, in the lawn as well as in the flower garden. And yes, there were lots of dead patches in the grass too. We are in the Greater Toronto area, zone 5.

Now we might have both ground beetles and June bugs. The pictures were taken from a bug that looked rather black. But I also see brown bugs, one followed us into the house yesterday. Haven't explored their fancy leg / foot work yet.

I am so used to your grumpy old ways that your joke almost went over my head.

==i noticed this also.. and have cut back my contributions.. until i can get over it..

i never had any faith in bt or nematodes... just no faith...

when the roman legions did something bad ... like not following orders ....they were ordered to kill every tenth man... by his colleagues.... thats where the deci part of the word comes from ...

ken

You may well have beneficial Ground Beetles, they are very common. But the only beetles you have pictured, described, or mentioned (Japanese Beetles) are all scarabs.

The "Featured Answer" at Houzz is based on a random algorithm, not on accuracy.

https://bugguide.net/node/view/3477/bgimage

^ notice the color variations for May Beetles here

Thanks for the bugguide website! Very helpful! Ours do look like the May Beetle ... found several more yesterday, same, same.

Are there other options if nematodes and BT don't work ( we sprayed nematodes twice so far, done with them), and we want to do organic gardening and keep our well water clean ?

Bt has zero impact on beetles or their larvae. It is very target specific. If you are concerned about organic controls, try a spray of mashed garlic, water and a bit of mineral oil and apply to a foliage where you see the beetles feeding.