# Spring Blackclock (*Pterostichus vernalis*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/spring-blackclock  
Data as of: 2026-11-14

The spring blackclock (Pterostichus vernalis) is a species in the family Carabidae, order Coleoptera. Recorded adults reach 7 mm in length. Source checklists list it for 34 countries, including Algeria, Austria and Azerbaijan.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | Not recorded |
| Length | 6 mm – 7 mm |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | grassland, human_modified |
| Young per litter or clutch | Not recorded |
| Conservation status | Not recorded |
| Countries on record | 34 countries |

## Recorded prey and predators

Recorded prey: Oxypoda longipes (*Oxypoda longipes*), Anotylus inustus (*Anotylus inustus*), Chlamydatus pulicarius (*Chlamydatus pulicarius*), Chlamydatus pullus (*Chlamydatus pullus*), Chlamydatus saltitans (*Chlamydatus saltitans*), Dicyphus globulifer (*Dicyphus globulifer*), Diplostyla concolor (*Diplostyla concolor*), Brown disc snail (*Discus ruderatus*), Drassyllus pusillus (*Drassyllus pusillus*), Errastunus ocellaris (*Errastunus ocellaris*), Eupteryx atropunctata (*Eupteryx atropunctata*), Eupteryx calcarata (*Eupteryx calcarata*). Recorded predators: Philonthus laminatus (*Philonthus laminatus*), Allagelena gracilens (*Allagelena gracilens*), Philonthus lepidus (*Philonthus lepidus*), Carabus auratus (*Carabus auratus*), Philonthus succicola (*Philonthus succicola*), Tent spider (*Pisaura mirabilis*), Tasgius melanarius (*Tasgius melanarius*), Gorse orbweaver (*Agalenatea redii*), Cucumber green spider (*Araniella cucurbitina*), Dark-footed harp ground beetle (*Calathus fuscipes*), Granulated ground beetle (*Carabus granulatus*), Common European earwig (*Forficula auricularia*). 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 2 countries. Introduced: Canada, United States. Source: https://griis.org/ (CC BY 4.0).

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Arthropoda
- class: Insecta
- order: Coleoptera
- family: Carabidae
- genus: Pterostichus
- species: *Pterostichus vernalis* (Panzer, 1796)

Synonyms: *Argutor biimpressus*, *Argutor rufomarginatus*, *Argutor sedulus*, *Argutor vernalis*, *Carabus crenatus*, *Carabus vernalis*, *Feronia distinguenda*, *Feronia vernalis*, *Lagarus degorsi*, *Lagarus ruthenus*, *Lagarus vernalis*, *Omaseus clancularius*, *Platysma martjanovi*, *Platysma rotundicolle*, *Pterostichus biimpressus*, *Pterostichus bistriatus*, *Pterostichus brunneus*, *Pterostichus crenatus*, *Pterostichus degorsi*, *Pterostichus distinguendus*, *Pterostichus emarginatus*, *Pterostichus inaequalis*, *Pterostichus martjanovi*, *Pterostichus nigricornis*, *Pterostichus nigrofemoratus*, *Pterostichus obtusus*, *Pterostichus piceus*, *Pterostichus picipennis*, *Pterostichus planatus*, *Pterostichus quadripunctatus*, *Pterostichus rotundicollis*, *Pterostichus rufescens*, *Pterostichus rufipes*, *Pterostichus rufomarginatus*, *Pterostichus ruthenus*, *Pterostichus sedulus*, *Stomis vernalis*

## 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.

Algeria, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Uzbekistan

## Common questions

### How big is the spring blackclock?

An adult spring blackclock measures 6 mm – 7 mm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

### Where does the spring blackclock live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the spring blackclock for 34 countries, including Algeria, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Belgium. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

### Is the spring blackclock an invasive species?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the spring blackclock 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 spring blackclock?

The spring blackclock (Pterostichus vernalis) belongs to the family Carabidae in the order Coleoptera.

### What eats the spring blackclock?

Animals recorded preying on the spring blackclock include philonthus laminatus, allagelena gracilens, philonthus lepidus and carabus auratus. The records are compiled by Global Biotic Interactions from published studies; each pair is reported by at least two datasets.

### Which animals does the spring blackclock eat?

Animals recorded as prey of the spring blackclock include oxypoda longipes, anotylus inustus, chlamydatus pulicarius and chlamydatus pullus. 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: Spring Blackclock (Pterostichus vernalis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/spring-blackclock