Rhantus suturalis

Description

Length 10.5 to 12.5 mm. With a closer look at Rhantus suturalis the dense black punctuation of the elytra is visible; this punctuation on a golden yellow base gives the dark brown impression when seen from a normal distance. The beetle has a light yellow coloured margin, and a rhombus-shaped dot on the neck shield.

Identification difficulty
Habitat

Stillwater habitats, including newly created pools and pools that dry out in summer.

When to see it

All year round.

Life History

It inhabits pools that dry out in summer, which are also the breeding places of mosquito larvae, which are the preferred food of this beetle. They can fly very well, and so easily escape from a pool which is drying out and migrate to another.

UK Status

Quite common and widespread in Britain.

VC55 Status

Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. There were a total of 23 VC55 records for this species up to March 2015.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Species group:
Beetles
Kingdom:
Animalia
Order:
Coleoptera
Family:
Dytiscidae
Records on NatureSpot:
9
First record:
26/09/2001 (Derek Lott)
Last record:
22/04/2019 (Calow, Graham)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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