Rock Crawler vs Trechine Cave Ground Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Rock Crawler Trechine Cave Ground Beetle
Scientific Name Grylloblatta bifratrilecta Aphaenops cerberus
Order Grylloblattodea Coleoptera
Family Grylloblattidae Carabidae
Size 15-25mm 6-9 mm
Habitat Caves Caves
Diet Scavengers Predators
Regions North America French Pyrenees (Ariège, Haute-Garonne)
Conservation Near Threatened Vulnerable

Rock Crawler

A pale wingless insect living on high-altitude ice and snowfields. It is active only at near-freezing temperatures.

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Did You Know?

Restricted to tiny patches of permanently cold habitat and acutely threatened by climate change warming its mountain homes.

Trechine Cave Ground Beetle

A fully cave-adapted ground beetle from the Pyrenees with no eyes, no pigmentation, and extremely elongated spider-like legs and antennae. It is beautifully adapted to life in total darkness.

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Did You Know?

Named after Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog of the underworld, this beetle navigates pitch-dark caves using enormously elongated antennae that can be twice its body length.