Tag Archives: Hydraenidae

Ochthebius putnamensis Blatchley

Putnam Minute Moss Beetle (Ochthebius putnamensis)  

The Putnam Minute Moss Beetle was described in 1910 based on material that had been sieved from the debris near a spring at a hillside somewhere in Putnam County in Indiana, USA. 

 The beetle is about 0,15 cm long, head and thorax are bronze colored, the elytra are glossy black, the legs are reddish brown. [1]  

***

The species was apparently never found again since and is thus considered probably extinct, however, given the very small size of the beetle and the fact that the exact type locality is not known, there is a high possibility that it still exists.  

*********************  

References:  [1] W. S. Blatchley: An illustrated descriptive catalogue of the Coleoptera or beetles (exclusive of the Rhynchophora) known to occur in Indiana. Indianapolis, W. B. Burford, contractor for state printing 1910  

*********************

Depiction from: ‘Philip Don Perkins: Aquatic beetles of the family Hydraenidae in the Western Hemisphere: classification, biogeography and inferred phylogeny (Insecta: Coleoptera). Quaestiones Entomologicae 16: 3-554. 1980’  

(under creative commons license (3.0)) 
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0  

*********************

edited: 20.03.2018

Limnebius aridus Perkins

Animas Limnebius Minute Moss Beetle (Limnebius aridus)

The species of this genus usually live in the bank substrate along mountain streams; they require certain particle- and gap sizes and are therefore very sensitive to soil silting.  

***

The Animas Limnebius Minute Moss Beetle was described in 1980, it is only known from a single collection that was made in 1952 on the Double Adobe Ranch in the Animas Mountains in Hildago County in New Mexico, USA.  

The biology is or was probably identical to that of other species of the genus.

*********************

edited: 02.05.2021

Hydraena sappho Janssens

Sappho Moss Beetle (Hydraena sappho)

The Sappho Moss Beetle was described in 1965, it was restricted to the island of Lefkada, also known as Leucadia, Leukas, or Lefkas, a small island in the Ionian Sea of Greece.

The species is known from only a single specimen and, since it was never recorded since its description, is probably extinct.

*********************

edited: 21.04.2019