Mellet's downy-back
Ophonus melletii (Heer, 1837)
Status not recordedbeetles
The mellet's downy-back (Ophonus melletii) is a species in the family Carabidae, order Coleoptera. Recorded adults reach 8 mm in length. Source checklists list it for 23 countries, including Albania, Austria and Azerbaijan.
No freely licensed photo yet
Quick facts about the mellet's downy-back
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- 5 mm – 8 mmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- freshwater, grassland, human_modifiedsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- 23 countriessrc for Countries on record
How big is the mellet's downy-back?
Where does the mellet's downy-back 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 mellet's downy-back is listed for 23 countries.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
- Albania
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Denmark
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Italy
- Lebanon
- Netherlands
- North Macedonia
- Poland
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Turkmenistan
- Ukraine
Why a country list is not a range map
Listed by: CarabCat (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
Is the mellet's downy-back 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 mellet's downy-back classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classInsecta
- orderColeoptera
- familyCarabidae
- genusOphonus
- SpeciesOphonus melletii (Heer, 1837)
Synonyms Harpalus melletii, Metophonu melletii, Metophonus melletii, Ophonus schaubergerianus
Other names and names in other languages (3)
- Kort kalkløberDanish
- Variabele halmklimmerDutch
- brun väglöpareSwedish
Relatives of the mellet's downy-back
Other species in the same genus Ophonus.
CompareMellet's downy-back vs Set-aside downy-backMellet's downy-back vs Oolite downy-backMellet's downy-back vs Ophonus krueperiMellet's downy-back vs Ophonus vignai
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the mellet's downy-back?
An adult mellet's downy-back measures 5 mm – 8 mm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the mellet's downy-back live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the mellet's downy-back for 23 countries, including Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium and Bulgaria. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
What kind of animal is the mellet's downy-back?
The mellet's downy-back (Ophonus melletii) belongs to the family Carabidae in the order Coleoptera.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · 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 - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · 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 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Mellet's downy-back (Ophonus melletii). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/mellets-downy-back
“Mellet's downy-back (Ophonus melletii).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/mellets-downy-back.
@misc{mellets_downy_back_2026,
title = {Mellet's downy-back (Ophonus melletii)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/mellets-downy-back},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}