#3291 · 🪲 beetles
European Red-bellied Clerid
🇳🇱 Mierenkever ·Thanasimus formicarius
🪲 Beetles 📍 in the Netherlands
📍 Utrechtse Heuvelrug National Park, Leersum, Utrecht, NL
📍 Linnaeusborg, 9747 AG Groningen, Netherlands
📍 9204 EB Drachten, Nederland
📍 Bergen, Netherlands
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Frank Vassen · CC BY 4.0
- 2. © shapomacro · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © shapomacro · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © rwiese · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © Kim Falck · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Alfred Passath · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. Utrechtse Heuvelrug National Park, Leersum, Utrecht, NL:© yasmineaarts · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. Linnaeusborg, 9747 AG Groningen, Netherlands:© Mick Elliot · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. 9204 EB Drachten, Nederland:© teddydolstra · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. Bergen, Netherlands:© Lars Willighagen · CC BY 4.0
what is it?
The ant beetle ( Thanasimus formicarius ), also known as the European red-bellied clerid , is a medium size insect, rather soft-bodied, with strong mandibles that can tear between the hard sclerotized integument of bark beetles. Larvae and adults are common predators of bark beetles in Europe.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 77 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 4,208 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
fact sheet
- English
- European Red-bellied Clerid
- Nederlands
- Mierenkever
- scientific name
- Thanasimus formicarius
- class
- Insecta
- order
- Coleoptera
- family
- Cleridae
- sightings in NL
- 77
- sightings in Europe
- 3,936
- sightings worldwide
- 4,208
- GBIF records in NL
- 3,856
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
relatives· Cleridae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 130787, Wikidata Q221792, GBIF 4448819, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.