Subfamily Dytiscinae

Classification · Numbers · Size · Identification · Works Cited

Big Beetle found dead on our deck - Dytiscus harrisii

Large Diving Beetle (Dytiscus sp?) - Dytiscus verticalis

Dytiscidae? maybe Eretes sp. - Thermonectus sibleyi

Dytiscus beetle - Dytiscus dauricus - female

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Adephaga (Ground and Water Beetles)

Family Dytiscidae (Predaceous Diving Beetles)

Subfamily Dytiscinae

Numbers

~40 spp. in 6 genera of 4 tribes in our area, >250 spp. in 12 genera of 5 tribes total(1)

Size

8-40 mm (Nearctic species)

Identification

Adults:

Eyes unnotched at antennal bases

scutellum visible

male protarsomeres 1-3 modified to form a broad oval palette, often with suckers on the ventral surface (used to grasp the female during mating)

Larvae:

Anterior margin of the clypeus (frontoclypeus) is rounded

anteroventral margin of femur and tibia with a fringe of swimming hairs

abdominal segments 7 and 8 fringed laterally with swimming hairs

Works Cited

1.	A World Catalogue of the Family Dytiscidae, or the Diving Beetles (Coleoptera, Adephaga) Nilsson and Hajek. 2019. Distributed by authors.

Contributed by Tim Loh on 8 February, 2009 - 1:12am
Additional contributions by v belov
Last updated 5 June, 2023 - 5:50pm

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