From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Water beetle

Common name for any beetle living in water

A water beetle is a generalized name for any beetle that is adapted to living in water at any point in its life cycle. Most water beetles can only live in fresh water, with a few marine species that live in the intertidal zone or littoral zone. There are approximately 2000 species of true water beetles native to lands throughout the world.

Many water beetles carry an air bubble, called the elytra cavity, underneath their abdomens, which provides an air supply, and prevents water from getting into the spiracles. Others have the surface of their exoskeleton modified to form a plastron, or "physical gill", which permits direct gas exchange with the water. Some families of water beetles have fringed hind legs adapted for swimming, but most do not. Most families of water beetles have larvae that are also aquatic; many have aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults.

Diet

Water beetles can be either herbivores, predators, or scavengers. Herbivorous beetles eat only aquatic vegetation, such as algae or leaves. They might also suck juices out the stem of a plant nearby. Scavenger beetles will feed on decomposing organic material that has been deposited. The scavenged material can come from aquatic vegetation, feces, or other small organisms that have died. The great diving beetle, a predator, feeds on things like worms, tadpoles, and even sometimes small fish.

Species

Families in which all species are aquatic in all life stages include:

Dytiscidae
Gyrinidae (Whirligig beetles)
Haliplidae
Noteridae
Amphizoidae
Hygrobiidae (Squeak beetles)
Meruidae
Hydroscaphidae (Skiff beetles).

Families in which the adults are not necessarily aquatic include:

Hydrophilidae
Lutrochidae (Travertine beetles)
Dryopidae
Elmidae
Eulichadidae
Heteroceridae
Limnichidae
Psephenidae (Water-penny beetles)
Ptilodactylidae
Torridincolidae
Sphaeriusidae

References

Epler, J. H. 2010. The Water Beetles of Florida – an identification manual for the families Chrysomelidae, Curculionidae, Dryopidae, Dytiscidae, Elmidae, Gyrinidae, Haliplidae, Helophoridae, Hydraenidae, Hydrochidae, Hydrophilidae, Noteridae, Psephenidae, Ptilodactylidae and Scirtidae. Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Tallahassee, FL

References

"Water Beetle: pictures, information, classification and more".
"Water Beetle - Facts, Information & Pictures".
Peckarsky, Barbara Lynn. (1990). "Freshwater macroinvertebrates of northeastern North America". Comstock Pub. Associates.
McCafferty, W. Patrick. (1983). "Aquatic Entomology: The Fishermen's and Ecologists' Illustrated Guide to Insects and Their Relatives". Jones & Bartlett Learning.
"Aquatic Beetles".
"Great Diving Beetle | The Wildlife Trusts".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

beetles-by-adaptation aquatic-insects insect-common-names

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Water beetle — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report