page_title: Pheropsophus aequinoctialis
section_title: Ecology
hierarchical_section_title: Pheropsophus aequinoctialis / Ecology
caption_attribution_description: English: Tawny Mole Cricket - Scapteriscus vicinus - Male - Dunedin, FL, USA
context_page_description: Pheropsophus aequinoctialis is a species of ground beetle from Central and South America that feeds as larvae on the eggs of mole crickets but as an adult is a generalist feeder.
context_section_description: Pheropsophus aequinoctialis adults are nocturnal, often hiding in groups during the day under stones, logs or clumps of grass, but emerging in the night to run along sandy trails or riverine beaches. In common with other members of the tribe Brachinini, they display a crepitating behaviour, and produce quinones.
  Adults of P. aequinoctialis sometimes feed on plant matter, such as the fruit of the palm Astrocaryum, but are generally predators, especially of adult mole crickets of the genus Scapteriscus. P. aequinoctialis has therefore been considered as a potential biological control agent to control Scapteriscus species. Three species of Scapteriscus (S. abbreviatus, S. borellii & S. vicinus) are adventive species in Florida, having arrived around 1900 from South America. The mole crickets' burrowing and the feeding by their adults and nymphs larvae cause significant damage to several grass species, including Paspalum notatum, Cynodon dactylon, Eremochloa ophiuroides, Stenotaphrum secundatum, Zoysia spp. and Hemarthria altissima.
caption: The larvae of Pheropsophus aequinoctialis eat eggs laid by mole crickets of the genus Scapteriscus (S. vicinus pictured).
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