Giant Swamp Leaf Beetle vs Horned Passalus

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Giant Swamp Leaf Beetle Horned Passalus
Scientific Name Donacia provostii Odontotaenius disjunctus
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Chrysomelidae Passalidae
Size 8-11 mm 28-37 mm
Habitat Wetlands Woodlands
Diet Herbivores Wood Feeders
Regions Eastern North America Eastern North America
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Giant Swamp Leaf Beetle

One of the larger species of reed beetle, with a metallic golden-green to coppery body and distinctive long antennae. Adults rest on emergent aquatic plants in wetlands.

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Did You Know?

Like all Donaciinae, larvae breathe underwater by piercing plant roots and tapping into the air spaces (aerenchyma) inside the plant tissue.

Horned Passalus

A large, shiny black beetle with a small horn on its head, found in rotting logs. It lives in family groups where adults and larvae communicate by stridulation.

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Did You Know?

Adults chew wood into pulp and feed it to their larvae, one of the few beetles to show true parental care.