Species Agabus disintegratus - Disintegrated Diving Beetle

Agabus disintegratus (Crotch)

Orig. Comb: Gaurodytes disintegratus Crotch 1873

disintegratus - "dis" (not) + "integer" (whole) - probably a reference to the interrupted stripe on each elytron

Agabus disintegratus-group:

adult length 6.3-8 mm (1)

larva 15-17.4 mm

Adult: head and pronotum reddish; elytra yellowish to brown with 3 blackish longitudinal stripes on each elytron, the middle stripe interrupted near the anterior end (a distinguishing feature)

Larva: whitish with sclerotized areas yellowish-brown; head subquadrate, widest near eyes; antennae 4-segmented; abdominal segments 6 to 8 completely sclerotized; segment 8 with siphon one-fourth length of segment; cerci 2-segmented; femora longer than tibiae, without swimming hairs

[adapted from description at Discover Life in America]

across US, except se and n. Rockies - Map (1)(2)

in temporary open ponds, often where vegetation is sparse (1)

adults active from spring to fall in permanent waters; in temporary ponds that dry up, adults estivate during summer

larvae and adults prey on other aquatic invertebrates such as Daphnia, and midge and mosquito larvae

one generation per year; overwinters as a larva

members of this group possess a stridulatory organ (1)

Crotch, G.R. 1873. Revision of the Dytiscidae of the United States. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 4: 383-424.

Type - MCZ, Harvard