Lesser silver water beetle
species of insect
The lesser silver water beetle (Hydrochara caraboides) is a species of water scavenger beetle (family Hydrophilidae).
Description
The beetle is about 15 millimetres (0.6 in) long and, despite the name, is actually black in color. It traps air with the hairs on the underside of its body in order to breathe below water, and it is this silver looking bubble of air that gives the beetle its name.
Distribution
H. caraboides has a wide distribution across Europe. In the United Kingdom, it is only found in the Somerset Levels, Cheshire and north-east Wales. It is classified as an endangered species, protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
The northern population cluster currently consists of around 45 breeding pools, several being ditches, most of which have a floating raft of densely matted vegetation at their centre, and an area of shallow open water containing isolated stands of emergent vegetation. The effect from cattle poaching is considered crucial for the beetle's ability to breed successfully at these water bodies.
The public source identifies “Lesser silver water beetle” as species of insect. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Lesser, silver and water.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1054965. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1981.
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This entry incorporates text from “Lesser silver water beetle” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.