Overview:  Beller's ground beetle is an inhabitant of the sphagnum bogs that lie near the margins of lower elevation (below 1000m) lakes.  These very acidic, low-oxygen environments support a diverse array of plant and animal life that can tolerate such extreme conditions.  Some of the unique peat bog plant species include the bog cranberry, cotton-grass and the bizarre insectivorous round-leaved sundew.  Beller's ground beetles skirt the edges of the floating mats of peat, scavenging on any available plant and animal material, as well as small soft-bodied insects.  Their larvae have a similar diet.  The bogs that sustain this beetle, as well as many other unique organisms, continue to be severely impacted by draining, filling and peat-mining activity.  It can take hundreds of years for these sensitive ecosystems to recreate the floating peat mats, which provide refugia for the plants and animals that thrive within the bogs.  Another threat to Beller's ground beetle is its heightened sensitivity to the insecticides that are often carried into the bogs by storm-water run-off from surrounding developed areas.  The decline of Beller's ground beetle populations, as well as other bog species, indicates the disappearance of our sphagnum bogs, which provide essential habitat to many unique organisms as well as valuable services to human beings.  Wetland areas efficiently filter our groundwater, they act as a collection basin for flood-waters, and they accumulate valuable stores of carbon.   Conservation of Beller's ground beetle habitat has been addressed in a Habitat Conservation Plan for Washington's Cedar Creek watershed, which is aiming to protect the remaining sphagnum bogs, as well as other endangered ecosystems, within the area.

Distribution: The distribution of Beller's ground beetle includes the low-lying sphagnum bogs of Washington, Oregon and Southwest British Columbia.  In Washington, populations have historically existed within both Snohomish and King Counties.  Today, however, the only known population of these beetles is located at King's Lake Bog in King County.  A population that formerly existed within Chase Lake has been extirpated due to the draining of the wetlands for housing developments.