Trechus quadristriatus

A small (about 4 mm) orange / brown ground beetle; the head and sometimes the pronotal disc being darker. It is a broad and flat species with weakly rounded and somewhat parallel elytra. The head is shiny black.

It is very similar to Trechus obtusus and detailed examination is necessary to reach a safe id. T. obtusus has no wings, or very tiny ones whilst T. quadristriatus has full wings. Also in T. obtusus, the anterior puncture inside the eye is separated from the eye by the puncture's width, whereas in T. quadristriatus it is closer to the eyes and separated by less than the width of the puncture.

A species of open and dry habitats including agricultural land but also in urban or built up areas; parks, gardens etc. It is not averse to using shaded areas.

Large breeding swarms sometimes occur in early autumn.

This species is an autumn breeder.

Very widely distributed and generally common throughout England and Wales although records from the western half of England and Wales are more scattered and much less frequent.

Fairly common in Leicestershire and Rutland. There were a total of 203 VC55 records for this species up to March 2015.