Dytiscus latissimus | |
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Dytiscus latissimus male ane female, at National Museum (Prague) | |
Conservation status | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Coleoptera |
Family: | Dytiscidae |
Genus: | Dytiscus |
Species: | D. latissimus |
Binomial name | |
Dytiscus latissimus Linnaeus 1758 |
Dytiscus latissimus is a species of beetle in family Dytiscidae.
Contents |
Dytiscus latissimus is one of the greatest representatives of the predacious diving beetles of the genus Dytiscus. It can reach a length of about 38–44 millimetres (1.5–1.7 in). This beetle is similar in structure to the better known and widespread Dytiscus marginalis, but it is clearly larger and especially wider. The species is usually easy to recognize by the extensions on both sides of the shield. The elytra and the pronotus are dark brown with yellow sides. The head is black, while the legs are yellow. The male's wing cases are shiny, while those of the female are finely grooved. This voracious predator hunts a wide variety of prey, including other insects, tadpoles, and small fish. Before they dive, they collect air bubbles in their wing cases which goes through the spiracles.
This species can be found in northern and Central European countries (particularly in Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and Ukraine).
It is an aquatic species and it inhabits in dense vegetation, mainly of Carex and Equisetum, at the edges of lakes or in non-flowing waters and deep ponds.