Giant Black Water Beetle vs Northern Flower Longhorn

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Giant Black Water Beetle Northern Flower Longhorn
Scientific Name Hydrophilus triangularis Pachyta lamed
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Hydrophilidae Cerambycidae
Size 34-40 mm 12-20 mm
Habitat Ponds & Lakes Forests
Diet Predators Root Feeders
Regions North America Scandinavia, Russia, Siberia, northern Japan
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Giant Black Water Beetle

The largest water beetle in North America, with a shiny black oval body. Larvae are voracious predators while adults are mainly plant feeders.

💡

Did You Know?

It carries a bubble of air beneath its body like a silvery film, which it replenishes at the surface.

Northern Flower Longhorn

A robust flower longhorn with black elytra bearing variable yellow-orange markings, found in boreal and montane conifer forests. Larvae develop in roots of spruce and pine. Adults visit flowers in forest clearings during midsummer.

💡

Did You Know?

The species name lamed refers to the Hebrew letter, due to the L-shaped marking on each elytron.