Animal Species:Three-punctured Diving Beetle
The large Three-punctured Diving Beetle lives under the water by breathing air stored beneath its wing cases.
Three-punctured Diving Beetle
Andrew Donnelly
© Australian Museum
Size range
2 cm - 2.3 cm
Distribution
The Three-punctured Diving Beetle is found hroughout Australia (except the south coast and Tasmania). There are about 20 species of predacious diving beetles (family Dytiscidae) in the Sydney region.
Habitat
The Three-punctured Diving Beetle lives in still waters including ponds, lakes and river pools.
Feeding and Diet
Three-punctured Diving Beetles are voracious predators, feeding on other insects, tadpoles and even small fish. The larvae are just as fearsome and capture their prey with piercing, grooved jaws through which they inject liquefying digestive juices. The prey 'soup' is then sucked up through the grooved jaws. The adult beetles have a powerful defensive chemical that they release to stun nearby fish.
Other behaviours and adaptations
Adult Three-punctured Diving Beetles fly great distances at night searching for water. They are also attracted to streetlights.
Classification
- Species:
- tripunctatus
- Genus:
- Cybister
- Subfamily:
- Dytiscinae
- Family:
- Dytiscidae
- Superfamily:
- Caraboidea
- Suborder:
- Adephaga
- Order:
- Coleoptera
- Class:
- Insecta
- Subphylum:
- Uniramia
- Phylum:
- Arthopoda
- Kingdom:
- Animalia
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Tags beetles, insects, arthropods, invertebrates, wildlife of sydney, identification,
