Contributors

Matt Ellis: Primary Author/ Programmer

I am new to Carabus collecting having only being collecting seriously for the last year. I decided to do this site in part after being inspired by Elateridae.com and Michal Hoskovec and Martin Rejzek's Cerambycidae site but also after being persuaded by James. I am currently studying for a PhD looking at maternal effects in pheasants. As well as collecting Carabus I am also interested in collecting and breeding Cetoniinae. Oh did I mention I play the mandolin and recently bough a ukulele and balalaika. Long live the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain I hope you enjoy our site. Please feel free to make any suggestions on how you think we can improve. And please do send us your pictures and data to help this site to grow!

James Kitson: Author

I am also new to Carabus collecting but have had a long standing interest in insects in general. Recently this has mostly focused on breeding African Cetoniinae and New World Dynastinae. In 2006 I obtained my MSc in Advanced Methods in Taxonomy and Biodiversity from Imperial College London and the Natural History Museum and I will soon be starting my PhD with Dr Brent Emerson at UEA looking at weevil speciation in the Mascarene islands.

Conrad Gillett: Author

I have been quite seriously collecting Carabus for about 10 years now, ever since the discovery of a Chrysocarabus splendens in the Pyrenees which set the ball rolling! I have made many trips to Europe for the primary purpose of catching these aristocratic beetles and one of the reasons I love collecting them is because they tend to occur in very beautiful remote or mountainous regions, not to mention the challenge of finding them and that wonderful feeling you get just as you peer into your pitfall traps! Despite what many people would have you believe, these creatures are certainly worthy of study and without doubt form a complicated and difficult group, comprising around 800 species. With that number of species, I am certainly a beginner enthusiast! I also have a great interest in Scarabaeoidea, especially in the Neotropical fauna and I am currently one of the curators of the Coleoptera collection at the Natural History Museum in London.

Ief Peeters: Contributor

Since my childhood I have been interested in insects. Instead of playing soccer, or BMX-racing, one could find me around the ponds or in the meadows and forests in the vicinity of my parents house, scrutinizing everything that had 6 legs. It’s hard to explain to outsiders why some people cherish such a deep interest for these little creatures, but those who collect will know. I live in the eastern part of Belgium, and have a masters degree in fine arts. I teach at an art academy which I do not consider a job because it’s so satisfying and it also means that I have a lot of spare time to go on collecting trips in several European countries.I have been collecting in a serious way for over a decade now. My main interests : the genus Carabus, phasmidae, European rhopalocera and sphingidae, the genus Parnassius, Papilionidae and Ornithoptera. I also have a fossil collection, WW II parafernalia and old artefacts like Roman coins and artefacts, flintstone arrowheads and other stuff from the aeons of old.

Daniel Prunier: Contributor

Je m' appelle Daniel Prunier. Je suis né en 1956. J' habite Chatillon près de Paris. Je m' intéresse aux insectes depuis ma jeunesse. Actuellement, je recherche les Carabidae. Je prospecte principalement en Europe et en Turquie. Je pratique la photographie des insectes et de leurs biotopes. Les insectes disparaissent et il est urgent de conserver des données et des échantillons des espèces communes. Nous devons témoigner pour les générations futures de la natureque nous avons eu la chance de contempler.