What is "agonum"

Agonum is a large genus of ground beetles in the subfamily Harpalinae, tribe Platynini. They are mid-sized to smallish beetles, typically with dark metallic hues – often reddish or bronze, but sometimes black, green etc.

The genus is generally native to the Holarctic and the Mediterranean region; their southern limit in Central Asia and the Himalaya region is less well understood, and they seem to range outward a bit out of their core regions (e.g. into East Africa).

They are wet-loving throughout their life cycle; for example, the genus is well represented in Ireland, where they are more plentiful than anywhere else in Europe.