Tag Archives: Megadytes ducalis

Megadytes ducalis Sharp

Giant Diving Beetle (Megadytes ducalis)

The Giant Diving Beetle, described in 1882, was originally known only from a single specimen, which was collected in 1880 (?) at an unknown location in Brazil.

The species was considered extinct.

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However, another ten specimens were discovered in 2019 in different historical museum collections, including drawers with unsorted diving beetle accessions of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris, France. These specimens were labeled as having been collected in what today is the municipality of Condeúba in the state of Bahia in northeastern Brazil. 

The species is still officially considered extinct, but searches with the intention to rediscover the species are currently underway. [1]

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References:

[1] Lars Hendrich; Michael Manuel; Michael Balke: The return of the Duke – locality data for Megadytes ducalis Sharp, 1882, the world’s largest diving beetle, with notes on related species (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae). Zootaxa 4586: 517-535. 2019

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edited: 29.04.2021