Tuesday 21 May
In the News: First crane egg in the western UK in four centuries
Great diving beetle (Dytiscus marginalis)
What’s the World’s Favourite Species?
Find out here.Great diving beetle fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
- Print factsheet
Great diving beetle description
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Class | Insecta |
| Order | Coleoptera |
| Family | Dytiscidae |
| Genus | Dytiscus (1) |
The great diving beetle (Dytiscus marginalis) is, as the name suggests, a large aquatic beetle (4). It is has a beautifully streamlined body shape and is dark brown to blackish in colour with yellow legs and a yellow border around both the head and the thorax. The wing cases, or 'elytra', are ridged in females but smooth in males. Males can also be distinguished from females by the presence of suction pads on the front legs; two of which are very large. The brownish larvae have large heads, which bear impressive, large jaws (3).
More »
Top
Related species
Great diving beetle biology
Both adults and larvae of this beetle are voracious predators, taking a wide range of prey including fish. They actively search for prey, and periodically swim to the surface in order to take in air (3). Adults often fly at night, and may land on glass surfaces or roads, mistaking them for water (2). When threatened, they exude a foul-smelling fluid from the anus that deters potential predators from eating them (5).
Females lay their eggs in cavities, which they cut in the stems of water plants that protrude from the water. The eggs hatch after a number of weeks (5).
TopGreat diving beetle range
Found in Europe and northern Asia and is common in Britain (3).
More »
Species with a similar range
|
You can view distribution information for this species at the National Biodiversity Network Gateway. |
Great diving beetle habitat
This water beetle is common in most aquatic habitats, in both still and running water (3), and frequently occurs in garden ponds. The great diving beetle is scarcer in chalk and limestone areas (1), and seems to prefer ponds with plenty of weeds (4).
More »
Top
Species found in a similar habitat
Great diving beetle status
The great diving beetle is common (3).
TopGreat diving beetle threats
The great diving beetle is very common and is not threatened.
TopGreat diving beetle conservation
Conservation action has not been targeted at this species.
|
|
There may be further information about this species available via the National Biodiversity Network Gateway. |
Find out more
For further information on the great diving beetle:
-
Animal Diversity Web:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/dytiscus/d._marginalis$narrative.html -
BBC Wildlife Finder:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/Great_diving_beetle
Authentication
This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact:
arkive@wildscreen.org.uk
Glossary
- Elytra
- In beetles and earwigs, the hard fore wings. They are held aloft when the insect flies, and are often coloured or patterned.
- Larvae
- Stage in an animal's lifecycle after it hatches from the egg. Larvae are typically very different in appearance to adults; they are able to feed and move around but usually are unable to reproduce.
- Thorax
- Part of the body located near the head in animals. In insects, the three segments between the head and the abdomen, each of which has a pair of legs.
References
-
National Biodiversity Network Species Dictionary (Jan 2003):
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nbn/ - Lyneborg, L. (1976) Beetles in colour. Blandford Press, Dorset.
- Harde, K. W. (2000) A field guide in colour to beetles. Silverdale Books, Leicester.
- Joy, N. (1933) British beetles; their homes and habits. Frederick Warne & Co., Ltd., London.
-
Animal Diversity (March 2003):
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/dytiscus/d._marginalis$narrative.html
More »Related species
Sign up to our newsletter
Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.
Get involved
ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!
X
Close
Close
Image credit
Great diving beetle portrait
© Christophe Véchot / Biosphoto
Biosphoto
16 rue Velouterie
Avignon
84000
France
Tel: +33 (490) 162 042
Fax: +33 (663) 208 434
http://www.biosphoto.com/
X
Close
Close
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
X
Close
Close
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
X
Close
Close
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
- view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
- download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
- teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.