CreatureData

Common heart shield

Nebria brevicollis (Fabricius, 1792)

Status not recordedbeetles

The common heart shield (Nebria brevicollis) is a species in the family Carabidae, order Coleoptera. Recorded adults reach 1.4 cm in length. Source checklists list it for 34 countries, including Albania, Algeria and Armenia.

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Quick facts about the common heart shield

Weight
Not recorded
Length
9 mm – 1.4 cmsrc for Length
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forest, human_modifiedsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Active
Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
34 countriessrc for Countries on record

How big is the common heart shield?

COMMON HEART SHIELD · LENGTH 1.4 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 1.4 cm, the recorded maximum length of the common heart shield is about 0.8% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

What does the common heart shield eat, and what eats it?

Species recorded in published studies and collections.

Recorded prey of the common heart shield

The 24 best supported of 87 on record

  1. Milky slug Deroceras reticulatum4 sources
  2. Gorse orbweaver Agalenatea redii2 sources
  3. Shortened minute rove beetle Aleochara curtula2 sources
  4. Aleochara bipustulata2 sources
  5. Slender minute rove beetle Alevonota gracilenta2 sources
  6. Aloconota gregaria2 sources
  7. Anaulacaspis nigra2 sources
  8. Anotylus insecatus2 sources
  9. Anotylus inustus2 sources
  10. Anotylus rugosus2 sources
  11. Anotylus sculpturatus2 sources
  12. Anotylus tetracarinatus2 sources
Show 12 more
  1. Atheta crassicornis2 sources
  2. Atheta fungicola2 sources
  3. Atheta triangulum2 sources
  4. Two-coloured brown click beetle Athous bicolor2 sources
  5. Bledius erraticus2 sources
  6. Bolitobius castaneus2 sources
  7. Callicerus rigidicornis2 sources
  8. Carpelimus punctatellus2 sources
  9. Cicurina cicur2 sources
  10. Clubiona brevipes2 sources
  11. Clubiona reclusa2 sources
  12. Dermestes laniarius2 sources

Recorded predators of the common heart shield

10 on record

  1. Allagelena gracilens2 sources
  2. Carabus auratus2 sources
  3. Tasgius melanarius2 sources
  4. Oak spider Aculepeira ceropegia2 sources
  5. Gorse orbweaver Agalenatea redii2 sources
  6. Cucumber green spider Araniella cucurbitina2 sources
  7. Wasp spider Argiope bruennichi2 sources
  8. Granulated ground beetle Carabus granulatus2 sources
  9. Furrow spider Larinioides cornutus2 sources
  10. Grayling Thymallus thymallus2 sources

Each pair is recorded by at least two independent datasets. A record shows the animal was seen or found to have eaten the other, including scavenged carcasses and young animals; it does not say how often. Compiled by Global Biotic Interactions (CC0 1.0).

References for these records

Where does the common heart shield live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The common heart shield is listed for 34 countries.

CanadaNorwayFranceAlgeriaArmeniaSwedenBelarusUkraineAustriaHungaryRomaniaLithuaniaLatviaEstoniaGermanyBulgariaGreeceAlbaniaCroatiaSwitzerlandBelgiumNetherlandsSpainIrelandItalyDenmarkIcelandGeorgiaSloveniaFinlandSlovakiaCyprusMacedonia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Albania
  2. Algeria
  3. Armenia
  4. Austria
  5. Belarus
  6. Belgium
  7. Bulgaria
  8. Canada
  9. Croatia
  10. Cyprus
  11. Denmark
  12. Estonia
  13. Faroe Islands
  14. Finland
  15. France
  16. Georgia
  17. Germany
  18. Greece
  19. Hungary
  20. Iceland
  21. Ireland
  22. Italy
  23. Latvia
  24. Lithuania
  25. Netherlands
  26. North Macedonia
  27. Norway
  28. Romania
  29. Slovakia
  30. Slovenia
  31. Spain
  32. Sweden
  33. Switzerland
  34. Ukraine

Why a country list is not a range map

Listed by: CarabCat (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the common heart shield as introduced in 1 country.

  1. United States

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the common heart shield endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the common heart shield classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. classInsecta
  4. orderColeoptera
  5. familyCarabidae
  6. genusNebria
  7. SpeciesNebria brevicollis (Fabricius, 1792)

Synonyms Carabus brevicollis, Carabus cursor, Carabus infidus, Carabus rufipes, Helobia lata, Helobia varicornis, Nebria barbara, Nebria cursor, Nebria cursor, Nebria elongata, Nebria fuscata, Nebria infida, Nebria lata, Nebria rufipes, Nebria rufipes, Nebria rufomarginata, Nebria rugimarginata, Nebria sicula, Nebria tamsii, Nebria uzokensis, Nebria varicornis

Other names and names in other languages (20)
  • European gazelle beetleEnglish
  • pohrázník černýCzech
  • SkovfladløberDanish
  • Almindelig jordløberDanish
  • Sort kantløberDanish
  • Sort muldløberDanish
  • Gewöhnlicher DammläuferGerman
  • Pechschwarzer DammläuferGerman
  • lehtosydänkiitäjäinenFinnish
  • Nébrie à cou courtFrench
  • Nébrie à cou brefFrench
  • barna partfutóHungarian
  • OeverloperDutch
  • BreedhalsnebriaDutch
  • Gewone kortnekDutch
  • oeverloopkeverDutch
  • Lesz truskawczakPolish
  • Плотник острогрудыйRussian
  • skogsnattlöpareSwedish
  • allmän nattlöpareSwedish

Catalogue of LifeiNaturalistITISTAXREFWikidata

Relatives of the common heart shield

Other species in the same genus Nebria.

CompareCommon heart shield vs Upland heart-shieldCommon heart shield vs Bare footed heart shieldCommon heart shield vs The beachcomberCommon heart shield vs Lacustrine gazelle beetle

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the common heart shield?

An adult common heart shield measures 9 mm – 1.4 cm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the common heart shield live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the common heart shield for 34 countries, including Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Austria and Belarus. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the common heart shield an invasive species?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the common heart shield as introduced in 1 country: United States, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.

What kind of animal is the common heart shield?

The common heart shield (Nebria brevicollis) belongs to the family Carabidae in the order Coleoptera.

What eats the common heart shield?

Animals recorded preying on the common heart shield include allagelena gracilens, carabus auratus, tasgius melanarius and oak spider. The records are compiled by Global Biotic Interactions from published studies; each pair is reported by at least two datasets.

Which animals does the common heart shield eat?

Animals recorded as prey of the common heart shield include milky slug, gorse orbweaver, shortened minute rove beetle and aleochara bipustulata. The records are compiled by Global Biotic Interactions from published studies; each pair is reported by at least two datasets.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Common heart shield (Nebria brevicollis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-heart-shield

MLA

“Common heart shield (Nebria brevicollis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-heart-shield.

BibTeX
@misc{common_heart_shield_2026,
  title = {Common heart shield (Nebria brevicollis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-heart-shield},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}