CreatureData

Interrupted Sunshiner

Amara communis (Panzer, 1796)

Status not recordedbeetles

The interrupted sunshiner (Amara communis) is a species in the family Carabidae, order Coleoptera. Recorded adults reach 7 mm in length. Source checklists list it for 38 countries, including Armenia, Austria and Belarus.

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Quick facts about the interrupted sunshiner

Weight
Not recorded
Length
5 mm – 7 mmsrc for Length
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Omnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
flowerssrc for Main food
Habitat
forest, freshwater, grassland, human_modified, wetlandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Active
By day (diurnal)src for Active
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
38 countriessrc for Countries on record

How big is the interrupted sunshiner?

INTERRUPTED SUNSHINER · LENGTH 7 MMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 7 mm, the recorded maximum length of the interrupted sunshiner is about 0.4% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

What does the interrupted sunshiner eat, and what eats it?

Species recorded in published studies and collections.

Recorded prey of the interrupted sunshiner

The 24 best supported of 82 on record

  1. Rhinoncus pericarpius2 sources
  2. Acalypta carinata2 sources
  3. Acalypta nigrina2 sources
  4. Adrastus rachifer2 sources
  5. Amblytylus nasutus2 sources
  6. Anoscopus flavostriatus2 sources
  7. Anoscopus serratulae2 sources
  8. Apion cruentatum2 sources
  9. Apion frumentarium2 sources
  10. Arthaldeus pascuellus2 sources
  11. Cassida sanguinosa2 sources
  12. Catapion pubescens2 sources
Show 12 more
  1. Catapion seniculus2 sources
  2. Catoplatus fabricii2 sources
  3. Beet flea beetle Chaetocnema concinna2 sources
  4. Chaetocnema hortensis2 sources
  5. Chaetocnema picipes2 sources
  6. Chlamydatus pulicarius2 sources
  7. Chlorita paolii2 sources
  8. Green leafhopper Cicadella viridis2 sources
  9. Cicadula persimilis2 sources
  10. Conosanus obsoletus2 sources
  11. Deltocephalus pulicaris2 sources
  12. Dicranotropis hamata2 sources

Recorded predators of the interrupted sunshiner

16 on record

  1. Northern dune tiger beetle Cicindela hybrida2 sources
  2. Tasgius melanarius2 sources
  3. Gorse orbweaver Agalenatea redii2 sources
  4. Cucumber green spider Araniella cucurbitina2 sources
  5. Tent spider Pisaura mirabilis2 sources
  6. Wasp spider Argiope bruennichi2 sources
  7. Bronze carabid Carabus nemoralis2 sources
  8. Granulated ground beetle Carabus granulatus2 sources
  9. Carabus auratus2 sources
  10. Furrow spider Larinioides cornutus2 sources
  11. Cricket bat spider Mangora acalypha2 sources
  12. Devil's Coach horse Ocypus olens2 sources
Show 4 more
  1. Philonthus lepidus2 sources
  2. Philonthus succicola2 sources
  3. Quedius curtipennis2 sources
  4. Common stretch spider Tetragnatha extensa2 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 interrupted sunshiner 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 interrupted sunshiner is listed for 38 countries.

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

The same countries as a list

  1. Armenia
  2. Austria
  3. Belarus
  4. Belgium
  5. Bulgaria
  6. Canada
  7. China
  8. Croatia
  9. Denmark
  10. Estonia
  11. Finland
  12. France
  13. Georgia
  14. Germany
  15. Greece
  16. Hungary
  17. Iceland
  18. Ireland
  19. Italy
  20. Japan
  21. Kazakhstan
  22. Kyrgyzstan
  23. Latvia
  24. Lithuania
  25. Mongolia
  26. Netherlands
  27. North Macedonia
  28. Norway
  29. Poland
  30. Romania
  31. Slovakia
  32. Slovenia
  33. Spain
  34. Sweden
  35. Switzerland
  36. Turkmenistan
  37. Ukraine
  38. Uzbekistan

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 interrupted sunshiner as introduced in 2 countries.

  1. Canada
  2. 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 interrupted sunshiner 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 interrupted sunshiner classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. classInsecta
  4. orderColeoptera
  5. familyCarabidae
  6. genusAmara
  7. SpeciesAmara communis (Panzer, 1796)

Synonyms Amara aberrata, Amara aemiliana, Amara alpicola, Amara atrocoerulea, Amara aubryi, Amara brunnea, Amara brunnipes, Amara cuprina, Amara dalei, Amara ferrea, Amara impressa, Amara impunctata, Amara latescens, Amara levis, Amara manevali, Amara marginata, Amara nigrita, Amara nigroaenea, Amara picipes, Amara planata, Amara puncticollis, Amara quadrifoveolata, Amara stavropolica, Amara subacuminata, Amara subimpressa, Amara tripunctata, Amara udensis, Amara vagabunda, Amara viatica, Amara viridis, Amara vulgaris, Carabus communis, Carabus vagabundus

Other names and names in other languages (9)
  • kvapník toulavýCzech
  • But ovalløberDanish
  • But metalløberDanish
  • aitosiemenkiitäjäinenFinnish
  • ムネナガマルガタゴミムシJapanese
  • VeldglimmerDutch
  • KameelloopkeverDutch
  • behúnik obyčajnýSlovak
  • ängskornlöpareSwedish

Catalogue of LifeiNaturalistITISTAXREFWikidata

Relatives of the interrupted sunshiner

Other species in the same genus Amara.

CompareInterrupted Sunshiner vs Dusky sun beetleInterrupted Sunshiner vs Social sun beetleInterrupted Sunshiner vs Magnificent sun beetleInterrupted Sunshiner vs Pale Moonshiner

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the interrupted sunshiner?

An adult interrupted sunshiner measures 5 mm – 7 mm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the interrupted sunshiner live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the interrupted sunshiner for 38 countries, including Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium and Bulgaria. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

What does the interrupted sunshiner eat?

Its recorded main food is flowers.

Is the interrupted sunshiner an invasive species?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the interrupted sunshiner as introduced in 2 countries: Canada and United States, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.

What kind of animal is the interrupted sunshiner?

The interrupted sunshiner (Amara communis) belongs to the family Carabidae in the order Coleoptera.

What eats the interrupted sunshiner?

Animals recorded preying on the interrupted sunshiner include northern dune tiger beetle, tasgius melanarius, gorse orbweaver and cucumber green 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 interrupted sunshiner eat?

Animals recorded as prey of the interrupted sunshiner include rhinoncus pericarpius, acalypta carinata, acalypta nigrina and adrastus rachifer. 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). Interrupted Sunshiner (Amara communis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/interrupted-sunshiner

MLA

“Interrupted Sunshiner (Amara communis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/interrupted-sunshiner.

BibTeX
@misc{interrupted_sunshiner_2026,
  title = {Interrupted Sunshiner (Amara communis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/interrupted-sunshiner},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}