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Photo#394222
Riffle Beetle - Heterlimnius

Riffle Beetle - Heterlimnius
Groton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA
May 9, 2010
Size: 2.5mm
Taken from Wrangling Brook.

Images of this individual: tag all
Riffle Beetle - Heterlimnius Riffle Beetle - Heterlimnius

Comments

Moved
Moved from Optioservus.

Moved
Moved from Riffle Beetles.

nice; may be just a clean Optioservus ovalis

 
Optioservus sp.
Either O. ovalis or O. ampliatus based on color and location; O. ovalis has the pale pattern broken up into 2 separate spots while O. ampliatus has a more or less continuous pale stripe from the shoulder to the apex. This one appears to have a continuous single pale stripe but it may be hard to say because of the encrustations on it. Elmids, and to a lesser extent some other aquatic beetle families often develop a algal/periphyton crust on their body surface as they age, which can make them difficult to identify. Scrubbing the specimen with a small fine toothbrush or sonicating it will help get rid of most of the surface crud.

 
O. ovalis/ampliatus
I thought O. ovalis is synonymous with O. ampliatus