| Scientific Name | Specimen Records |  Click photo to enlarge. Photo by Charles Staines. |
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| Copelatus glyphicus (Say) | ATBI Database | ||||
| Common Name | |||||
| N/A | |||||
| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | |
| Animalia | Arthropoda | Insecta | Coleoptera | Dytiscidae | |
| Animals | Arthropods | Insects | Beetles | Predaceous Diving Beetles | |
Physical characteristics:
Adult: Color: pale yellowish brown to reddish brown, ventral surface darker. Body with fine, moderately dense punctation dorsally. Pronotum with lateral bead complete. Elytra: with short sulcus near margin plus 10 complete sulci. Venter with prosternal process relatively flattened, convex basally. (Larson et al. 2000)
Adult body length: 4.2-5.5 mm.
Larvae: Gray with grayish-brown or yellowish-brown spots on thoracic segments 2 and 3 and a medial longitudinal stripe. Body subdepressed, elongate. Head subquadrate, with 6 ocelli; antennae 4-segmented, cylindrical, segments 1 and 3 subequal in length, 4th shortest about ½ length of 3. Pronotum with sides rounded, lateral margin with few long setae. Cerci 1-segmented, about as long as abdominal segment 8. Legs without swimming hairs. (Spangler 1962)
Larval body length : 7.5 mm.
Distribution
Global
This species is found from Canada to Florida west to Texas, Kansas, and Nebraska . It is also found in California and Oregon (Larson et al. 2000).
Park
This species is known from Balsam Mountain, Big Cove, Cades Cove, Cataloochee, Deep Creek, Metcalf Bottoms, Oconaluftee, Purchase Knob, Sugarlands, and Tremont. Specimens have been collected in ponds, temporary pools, flooded meadows, and ditches from March to August.
Natural history
Habitat
This species has been collected in ponds, pools, puddles, hollow trees, leaf litter, and temporary pools. Adults are attracted to lights (Ciegler 2003).
Ecology
This species feeds on copepods, ostracods, ceratopogonid larvae, and Podura aquatica L. (Collembola) (Spangler 1962).
Conservation Biology
This is common, widespread species, it is not globally threatened.Acknowledgements
Text:
Charles Staines.
Photographs:Charles Staines.
Web page:
References
Ciegler, J. C. 2003. Water beetles of South Carolina (Coleoptera: Gyrinidae, Haliplidae, Noteridae, Dytiscidae, Hydrophilidae, Hydraenidae, Scirtidae, Elmidae, Dryopidae, Limnichidae, Heteroceridae, Psephenidae, Ptilodactylidae, and Chelonariidae). Biota of South Carolina . Volume 3. Clemson University, Clemson. 207 pp.
Larson, D. J. Y. Alarie, & R. E. Roughley. 2000. Predacious diving beetles (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) of the Nearctic Region, with emphasis on the fauna of Canada and Alaska . NRC Press. Ottawa . 982 pp.
Spangler, P. J. 1962. Natural history of Plummers Island, Maryland . XIV. Biological notes and description of the larva and pupa of Copelatus glyphicus (Say) (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 75:19-24.
