Featured speciesText © K. Reißmann, T. Hörren, M. Stern, F. Bötzl and C. Benisch
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
07.05.2021
Platambus maculatus (L., 1758)
|
20 
|
The 7 to 8.5 mm large diving beetle Platambus maculatus (family Dytiscidae) is the only representative of the genus Platambus in Germany, which is quite speciose in the Palearctic and to a lesser extent in the Nearctic. The stenotopic species ranges from Europe to the Caucasus and Western Siberia. It is rheophilous and lives in the stagnant water zone of slowly flowing rivers and creeks with rich vegetation as well as in the surf-zone of lakes. Often the gregarious beetles can be found at the lower side of driftwood and on the water vegetation. Beetles and larvae prey on other water insects. When disturbed they exude a defense secretion, which contains the sesquiterpene Platambin as main component (Schildknecht, 1975). In Germany, Platambus maculatus is recorded from all Federal States and is not endangered. (CB)
|
|
|
