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NOTE: As of 2014, the California Beetle Project page is no longer updated. The original database and list of California beetles in the menu on the left will remain for the time being, but the information contained within is not necessarily current. SBMNH Entomology Curator Matthew L. Gimmel has divided up the function of the original database into two conceptual halves:

  1. The SBMNH Entomology specimen-level database, including all SBMNH beetle specimens included in the CBP database, which is now available (and ever-growing) through the ecdysis portal at https://serv.biokic.asu.edu/ecdysis/

  2. A literature- (and available specimen-)based checklist.
    3. of the Coleoptera of California, which is being revised and re-compiled by Dr. Gimmel, and, as of January 2017, is about 85% complete.



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Last updated 01/16/2009

 California Beetle Project > Species Pages > Graphoderus occidentalis

Classification

Scientific name: Graphoderus occidentalis Horn
    Order Coleoptera
    Family Dytiscidae

Images (click to enlarge)

What it looks like: 11.1-14.4 mm in length. Its body is oval-shaped and dark brown with pale yellow-orange markings on its head and a distinct strip of yellow-orange behind the head. The elytra, or wing coverings, are speckled with small yellow-orange spots. They have large, powerful hind legs for swimming.

Where you'll find it: This species can be found across North America, but it is most common in the open grasslands of the western United States and Canada.

Natural History: These water beetles live in grassland ponds or ponds in sunny, exposed locations.

This page was written by Maren Farnum, a 2005 California Beetle Project intern.



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