Trochanters

The greatly enlarged hind trochanter, characteristic of carabids, contains a powerful muscle which can rotate the hind femur thus enabling the leg to push at any angle from horizontal (backwards) to vertical (downwards). Combined with the overall wedge shape of many species e.g. Amara this is an elegant adaption to penetrating confined spaces e.g. bark, leaf litter or soil crevices where many species rest during the day. Its use in the fossorial (Digging) habits of Clivina are obvious and in long legged species the adaptation to rapid movement is equally so.

Harpalus rufipes                               Calathus fuscipes