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Sticker of Lateral-lined water beetle
Bug card No. 2548 of 4,939

Lateral-lined water beetle

Tropisternus lateralis
Eats: A bit of everythingBeetlesPonds, rivers and shores6 legs

The lateral-lined water beetle is a dark beetle with pale stripes along its edges. It lives in ponds, but it breathes air, so it comes up to the surface. It can also fly from pond to pond.

Lives in
From southern Canada through the Americas to Chile and Argentina, and the Galápagos Islands, in ponds and pools
Top speed
about 1 km/h (0.62 mph)
Swimming, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It is happiest left in its pond.
What does it eat?
Grown-up beetles like it mostly nibble bits of water plants. Its larvae hunt small water animals.
For real!Photo of Lateral-lined water beetle
Picture by Fredlyfish4. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It can make little sounds by rubbing parts of its body together, when it is stressed, calling or looking for a mate.

2

The mother lays her eggs in little cases under water.

3

Its larvae live all the time in the water.

4

It stays away from ponds with fish, because fish could eat it and its young.

5

People once carried it by accident to the island of Oahu in Hawaii.

you asked

Most asked questions about Lateral-lined water beetle

?Can the lateral-lined water beetle fly?

Yes. It lives in water, but it can fly to find a new pond.

?How does the lateral-lined water beetle breathe under water?

It breathes air, so it comes up to the surface to get some.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Tropisternus lateralis
Named by
Fabricius, 1775
Group
Beetles
Family
Hydrophilidae
Classification
Insecta > Coleoptera > Hydrophilidae
Lives on
North America, South America, Australia and Oceania

Where the facts come from

  1. Tropisternus lateralis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Fredlyfish4. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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More from the same group: Beetles

Also at home here: Ponds, rivers and shores

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