Diving beetle (Liodessus)
In this section
-
Larval beetles
- Alligator weed flea beetle (Agasciles)
- Diving beetle (Antiporus)
- Diving beetle (Hyphydrus)
- Diving beetle (Liodessus)
- Diving beetle (Onychohydrus)
- Diving beetle (Rhantus)
- Marsh beetles (Scirtidae)
- Riffle beetles (Elmidae)
- Toe-winged beetles (Ptilodactylidae)
- Water scavenger beetle (Berosus)
- Water scavenger beetle (Hydrophilidae)
- Whirlygig beetle (Gyrinus)
Taxonomic group
Dytiscidae: Liodessus
Diagnostic features
Liodessus is one of the dytiscid “diving beetles” having larvae and adults that are active swimmers. The larvae have a short cone-like “nose”, and two tail “cerci” that have long side hairs. The adults are tiny (up to 3mm), oval, with 11-segmented antennae, and with obvious grooves linking the wing covers (elytra) and the thorax.
Typical habitats
Liodessus are most common in ponds, wetlands and slow-flowing weedy streams.
Feeding
The dytiscid beetles are predators, feeding on other pond invertebrates.
Indicator value
- Hard bottom: 5
- Soft bottom: 4.9
The tolerance values (ranging from 0 to 10) give an indication of which are the sensitive taxa (values of 8 or more) and which are the tolerant taxa (values of 3 or less). For more information see: Indicator species
The presence of Liodessus is more likely to reflect pond-like habitat conditions rather than any particular water quality conditions. They have medium tolerance values of 5 (hard bottom sites) and 4.9 (soft bottom sites).