Common name: Screech beetles
Number of species: 1
Size Range: 10-10mm
Tarsi: 5-5-5.
Description:
This family is represented by a single species in the British Isles, the screech beetle Hygrobia hermanni (Fabricius). A large (9mm) yellow and black water beetle, it is found in ponds and ditches, often in the soft mud where both adults and larvae are predatory. It can stridulate loudly when disturbed, hence the common name.
The screech beetles (Hygrobiidae) are a very small family of medium-sized beetles with only one genus worldwide comprising six species. Their distribution range is the Palearctic and Australis. In Germany only one species occurs, which lives as predator in stagnant water, scarcely covered with vegetation (e.g. muddy and loamy ponds). Hygrobiidae are able to fly, but are only modest swimmers. Their habitus resembles those of the Hydrophilidae, and their swimming style is similar, too, with alternate strokes of the hind legs.
