Bordered Great Diving Beetle vs Common Spongillafly

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Bordered Great Diving Beetle Common Spongillafly
Scientific Name Dytiscus circumflexus Sisyra fuscata
Order Coleoptera Neuroptera
Family Dytiscidae Sisyridae
Size 28-34 mm 6-10 mm wingspan
Habitat Ponds & Lakes Ponds & Lakes
Diet Omnivores Parasitoids
Regions Europe Europe, Western Asia
Conservation Near Threatened Least Concern

Bordered Great Diving Beetle

A large British diving beetle similar to D. marginalis but with expanded yellow margins. It prefers larger, more permanent water bodies.

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Did You Know?

Females have deeply grooved elytra while males have smooth ones, making the sexes easy to distinguish.

Common Spongillafly

A small dark lacewing whose larvae are aquatic parasitoids of freshwater sponges. One of the few neuropterans with aquatic larval stages.

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Did You Know?

Its larvae breathe underwater using specialized pointed mouthparts that also pierce sponge cells for feeding.