Common Springtail-stalker Notiophilus biguttatus

Quite a beautiful insect!

This individual was 4.8mm long, found on arable land.

Common Springtail-stalker Notiophilus biguttatus showing close-ups of elytra and pronotum, Wendling Beck Environment Project (Norfolk, UK), 30th October 2022

This one appeared on the table while I was dining outside at the cafe at Creake Abbey. This was before I had access to any decent beetle identification resources and I was unable to determine it to species level at the time, putting it down as Notiophilus sp. Judging from my blog written at the time it appears that I was under the impression that the genus could not be identified to species level without dissection. Not sure where that came from but it certainly isn't true - indeed, armed with better resources today I think it can even be identified from these photos.

Common Springtail-stalker Notiophilus biguttatus, Creake Abbey (Norfolk, UK), 4th May 2015

I don't know if it's possible to get bored of seeing these, but if so I'm a long way off that point. My heart skips a beat when I find one...

Common Springtail-stalker Notiophilus biguttatus showing frontal grooves, North Elmham (Norfolk, UK), 18th March 2023

Common Springtail-stalker Notiophilus biguttatus showing frontal grooves, North Elmham (Norfolk, UK), 18th December 2023