Rough-Skinned Diving Beetle vs Two-Spotted Dung Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Rough-Skinned Diving Beetle Two-Spotted Dung Beetle
Scientific Name Dytiscus lapponicus Onthophagus nuchicornis
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Dytiscidae Scarabaeidae
Size 24-30 mm 6-9 mm
Habitat Mountains Grasslands
Diet Omnivores Dung Feeders
Regions Northern Europe, Northern Asia Europe, Asia, introduced to North America
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Rough-Skinned Diving Beetle

A large diving beetle of northern and alpine regions across Europe and Asia. Both sexes have finely sculptured elytra, distinguishing it from the great diving beetle.

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Did You Know?

It is one of the few large predatory beetles adapted to survive the extreme cold of subarctic lakes.

Two-Spotted Dung Beetle

A small, mottled brown and yellow tunneling dung beetle with two dark spots on the pronotum. Males have a single backward-pointing horn on the nape. It is one of the most common dung beetles in European pastures.

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Did You Know?

This species was accidentally introduced to North America and is now one of the most common dung beetles on the continent.