Aquatic dung beetle?

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bankst
Posts: 69
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:50 am

Aquatic dung beetle?

Post by bankst »

I found this beetle last Sunday - it was swimming in a pond. I was about to rescue it, (I know, the whole 'do you/don't you help wildlife' debate), when it dived, resurfaced, climbed onto a leaf, then hurled itself back into the water. Clearly it didn't want rescuing. I got a few slightly blurred photos and I'm pretty sure it's an Aphodius sp, possibly A. granarius but every source I've consulted classifies it as a dung beetle and none mentions its aquatic capability. Can anyone confirm ID or suggest alternatives? The specimen was about 4mm long.
Cheers,
Tom.
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Aphodius sp.
Aphodius sp.
anno
Posts: 178
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:50 am
Location: Penketh

Re: Aquatic dung beetle?

Post by anno »

Have you tried Andy Harmer?
bankst
Posts: 69
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:50 am

Re: Aquatic dung beetle?

Post by bankst »

Ta for the suggestion Anno. I haven’t got contact details for Andy so if you’ve got any I’ll message you separately for them. Another good show on BBC Radio Merseyside last Saturday by the way!
Cheers,
Tom.
DonSten
Posts: 84
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:50 am

Re: Aquatic dung beetle?

Post by DonSten »

It's Hydrobius fuscipes, a very common water beetle in he family Hydrophilidae.

Best
Don
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