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

Register · Log In
HomeGuideID RequestRecentFrassForumsDonateHelp
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29


Previous events
TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData
Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Staphyliniformia » Staphylinoidea » Minute Moss Beetles (Hydraenidae)

Family Hydraenidae - Minute Moss Beetles

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Food · Remarks · See Also · Print References · Works Cited
tiny aquatic beetle - Hydraena americana tiny aquatic beetle - Hydraena americana Limnebius alutaceus (Casey) - Limnebius alutaceus Byrrhoidea? - Hydraena Hydraena petila (Perkins) - Hydraena petila - male Hydraena petila (Perkins) - Hydraena petila - male Hydraena occidentalis (Perkins) - Hydraena occidentalis - male Grass Lake hitchhiker - Ochthebius
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Staphyliniformia)
Superfamily Staphylinoidea
Family Hydraenidae (Minute Moss Beetles)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
used to be grouped with the Hydrophilidae(1)
Explanation of Names
Hydraenidae Mulsant 1844
Numbers
~70 spp. in 6 genera of 2 subfamilies in our area, 210 spp. in the New World, ~1400 described spp. (+hundreds undescribed) in >40 genera worldwide(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7) (the cosmopolitan Hydraena alone includes ~900 described spp.)
Size
0.5‒3.0 mm(1)
Identification
key to most NA species in (2); FL spp. in (8)
Range
worldwide(1)
Habitat
in moss or accumulations of moist/wet dead leaves and sticks/twigs along the margins of streams, rivers, sinkholes, pools and ponds; also in littoral zone substrata(8)
Food
Larvae and adults graze on wet stones, sand grains and plant matter, where they feed on algae, bacteria, protozoans and detritus(8)
Remarks
Some of the oldest beetle fossils are hydraenids, from the lower Jurassic(1)
See Also
The antennal club of 5 antennomeres (vs normally 3 antennomeres in hydrophiloids)(1)
vs
Print References
(9)
Works Cited
1.American Beetles, Volume I: Archostemata, Myxophaga, Adephaga, Polyphaga: Staphyliniformia
Arnett, R.H., Jr., and M. C. Thomas. (eds.). 2000. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.
2.Aquatic beetles of the family Hydraenidae in the Western Hemisphere: classification, biogeography and inferred phylogeny
Perkins, P.D. 1980.
3.Newton A.F., Thayer M.K. Catalog of higher taxa of Staphyliniformia and genera and subgenera of Staphylinoidea [online]
4.World catalogue of insects, Vol. 1: Hydraenidae (Coleoptera).
Hansen, M. 1998. 1998. Apollo Books, Vester-Skerninge, Denmark. .
5.A review of the genera of the beetle family Hydraenidae (Coleoptera)
Hansen M. 1991. Steenstrupia 17: 1-52.
6.Aquatic beetles of the family Hydraenidae in the Western Hemisphere: classification, biogeography and inferred phylogeny
Perkins P.D. 1980. Quaestiones Entomologicae 16: 3-554.
7.Order Coleoptera Linnaeus, 1758. In: Zhang Z.-Q. (ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification...
Ślipiński S.A., Leschen R.A.B., Lawrence J.F. 2011. Zootaxa 3148: 203–208.
8.The Water Beetles of Florida
Epler J.H. 2010. Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Tallahassee. 414 pp.
9.Life on the effective bubble: exocrine secretion delivery systems (ESDS) and the evolution and classification of beetles...
Perkins P.D. 1997. Annals of Carnegie Museum 66(2): 89-207.
Contributed by tom murray on 27 April, 2006 - 7:18pm
Additional contributions by Phillip Harpootlian, Jeff Gruber, Mike Quinn, Tim Moyer, v belov, Edward Ruden, mpintar
Last updated 7 December, 2023 - 5:05pm

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2025 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo

Printer Friendly Version 		Terms of Use
Privacy Statement
Site Map
Contact