The Greater Silver Diving Beetle on a painting of Koekoek
At the time that this painting was made, the Greater Silver
Diving beetle was a well known beetle, but is nowadays rare.
Greater Silver Diving Beetle. A photo made by
Wim Veenstra
A plate of the large larvae, that looks like
a worm with jaws
A girl looks at the aquarium , around 1900.
An aquarium had no electrical cleaning pomps ans sieves,
no temperature control , and the water is cleaned by
the roots of the fern. These natural aquaria were common
around the fin du siecle, and were inhinited by the.
diving beetle, salamanders. frogfish and stickelbacks.
The Greater Silver Diving Beetle is an easy housepet, eating meat
from the hand. Don't take the beetle out of the water as
it uses it sharp and long stickel to defend itself.
The strong and sharp stickel easely penetrates a hand and
is only stopped by bones, producing a painful wound.
Greater Silver Diving Beetle
This is the giant in the ditch, black but with a big silver
air bubble under its belly. .
This beetle is even bigger then thediving beetle .
It lives in ditches with standing water.
This beetle prefers waterplants above meat.
Its even possible to let it eat from your hand if you
keep it in the terrarium as a pet.
Although its a jewel in youre terrarium , this animal is protected as
it is very rare.
The stickel
The Silver waterbeetle carries a large (up to 2cm long) stickel
between its legs. For this reason one should not hold ths beetle
in the hand as it stings is painfully. The stickel prevents the beetle
from being eaten by fish and birds.
building a nest
The greater Silver diving beetle builds a floating nest .
made of dead waterplants.
flying
The diving beetle does fly, but not often. On a warm night
it flies for hours , attracted by lights.
