Great diving beetle
Great diving beetle
Invertebrate
A large, predatory water beetle that hunts in ponds and slow-moving streams.
💡 Fun Facts
- They breathe underwater by trapping a bubble of air under their wing cases.
- Both the adults and their larvae are fierce predators that even eat small fish.
- They can fly and often move between ponds at night.
Name Story
Dytiscus marginalis
means “the bordered diver”
What does its name mean?
- Dytiscus — diver, able to diveGreek (dyein, 'to dive/plunge')
- marginalis — bordered, marginedLatin
Its name says exactly what it is and what it does: a bold hunting beetle rimmed with a neat pale border, which dives beneath the pond carrying its own bubble of air tucked under its wing-cases.