Beetles uncovered

Last weekend I worked on preparing the garden for winter.  I was careful when cutting back plant stems, as I thought I might find the egg cases (ootheca) of the praying mantises I had seen before.  Although I didn't find any ootheca on the plants, I did find a new one on a sheltered part of the garden fence.

A mantis egg case (ootheca) attached to the fence.

My other interesting -- and much more colorful -- finds were all under the plant stems I was pruning.  As I gathered the dead leaves and stems from around one plant, I saw several bright red shapes nestled in the dirt.  They were ladybugs that had been hibernating under the shelter of the leaves.

Ladybugs that had been underneath some dead leaves.

I had been finding ladybugs hibernating in the mulch for the last few weeks, so these weren't a big surprise.  However, the next beetle that I uncovered was much larger, with an unusual purple and bronze sheen.

A European ground beetle (Carabus nemoralis) that had been underneath some plant stems.

From above, the coloration of the European ground beetle (Carabus nemoralis) makes it look attractive. However, once you look at it face on, I'm sure you will understand why I was glad to be wearing gloves when I caught this predatory beetle.