Waterlily Leaf Beetle vs North American Pygmy Mole Cricket

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Waterlily Leaf Beetle North American Pygmy Mole Cricket
Scientific Name Galerucella nymphaeae Neotridactylus apicialis
Order Coleoptera Orthoptera
Family Chrysomelidae Tridactylidae
Size 5-7 mm 5-7 mm
Habitat Ponds & Lakes Rivers & Streams
Diet Herbivores Herbivores
Regions Europe, Northern Asia Eastern United States
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Waterlily Leaf Beetle

A small, brown leaf beetle that feeds on the upper surfaces of waterlily pads. It creates distinctive feeding grooves across floating leaves.

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Did You Know?

Although it feeds on aquatic plants, the beetle cannot swim and will drown if it falls off a lily pad into open water.

North American Pygmy Mole Cricket

A minute mole cricket found on sandy shores of rivers and ponds in North America. It burrows just beneath the wet sand surface.

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Did You Know?

Its hind tibiae bear paddle-like swimming plates that allow it to skim across the surface of water when flooded out of its burrow.