# Common heart shield (*Nebria brevicollis*) Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-heart-shield Data as of: 2026-11-14 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. ## Quick facts | Fact | Value | |---|---| | Weight | Not recorded | | Length | 9 mm – 1.4 cm | | Lifespan | Not recorded | | Diet | Invertivore | | Main food | Not recorded | | Habitat | forest, human_modified | | Young per litter or clutch | Not recorded | | Active | Day and night (cathemeral) | | Conservation status | Not recorded | | Countries on record | 34 countries | ## Recorded prey and predators Recorded prey: Milky slug (*Deroceras reticulatum*), Gorse orbweaver (*Agalenatea redii*), Shortened minute rove beetle (*Aleochara curtula*), Aleochara bipustulata (*Aleochara bipustulata*), Slender minute rove beetle (*Alevonota gracilenta*), Aloconota gregaria (*Aloconota gregaria*), Anaulacaspis nigra (*Anaulacaspis nigra*), Anotylus insecatus (*Anotylus insecatus*), Anotylus inustus (*Anotylus inustus*), Anotylus rugosus (*Anotylus rugosus*), Anotylus sculpturatus (*Anotylus sculpturatus*), Anotylus tetracarinatus (*Anotylus tetracarinatus*). Recorded predators: Allagelena gracilens (*Allagelena gracilens*), Carabus auratus (*Carabus auratus*), Tasgius melanarius (*Tasgius melanarius*), Oak spider (*Aculepeira ceropegia*), Gorse orbweaver (*Agalenatea redii*), Cucumber green spider (*Araniella cucurbitina*), Wasp spider (*Argiope bruennichi*), Granulated ground beetle (*Carabus granulatus*), Furrow spider (*Larinioides cornutus*), Grayling (*Thymallus thymallus*). Each pair is recorded by at least two datasets compiled by Global Biotic Interactions (https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/, CC0 1.0). ## Introduced range The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists it as introduced in 1 country. Introduced: United States. Source: https://griis.org/ (CC BY 4.0). ## Classification - kingdom: Animalia - phylum: Arthropoda - class: Insecta - order: Coleoptera - family: Carabidae - genus: Nebria - species: *Nebria 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* ## Countries on record 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. Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine ## Common questions ### 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 - [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - [Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI): interpreted data products](https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/), CC0 1.0, 0.11. Poelen, J.H., Simons, J.D. & Mungall, C.J. (2014) Global Biotic Interactions: an open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics 24: 148–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.08.005. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22691479, with each record's original reference. - [Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS)](https://griis.org/), CC BY 4.0, 2026-11-13. Pagad, S., Genovesi, P., Carnevali, L., Schigel, D. & McGeoch, M.A. (2018) Introducing the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species. Scientific Data 5: 170202. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.202. Country checklists published through GBIF by the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group. - [TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844), CC BY 4.0, 2.0. Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 Cite as: Common heart shield (Nebria brevicollis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-heart-shield