Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Species Hydrophilus triangularis - Giant Black Water Beetle

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Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Staphyliniformia)
Superfamily Hydrophiloidea
Family Hydrophilidae (Water Scavenger Beetles)
Subfamily Hydrophilinae
Tribe Hydrophilini
Genus Hydrophilus (Giant Water Scavenger Beetles)
Species triangularis (Giant Black Water Beetle)
Other Common Names
Giant Diving Scavenger Beetle, Giant Water Scavenger
Explanation of Names
Hydrophilus triangularis Say 1823
Size
32-40 mm(1)
Identification
Similar to the usually smaller and less oblong H. (Dibolocelus) ovatus (which is more common southward), but the prosternum is undivided(1)
Range
transcontinental (BC-QC to FL-CA), less common in the northwest(2)(3)
Habitat
marshy lakes, weedy ponds, swales and streams; often found under parking lot lights(1)
Season
Apr-Aug in SC
Food
predator/herbivore (Moorhead et al. 1998)
Print References
Moorhead D.L., Hall D.L., Willig M.R. (1998) Succession of macroinvertebrates in playas of the southern High Plains, USA. JNABS 17: 430-442.
Works Cited
1.The Water Beetles of Florida
Epler J.H. 2010. Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Tallahassee. 414 pp.
2.A Distributional Checklist of the Beetles (Coleoptera) of Florida
3.Review of the Family Hydrophilidae of Canada and Alaska
Ales Smetana. 1988. Entomological Society of Canada.