Hydraenid Beetles are a small Beetles (usually under 3 mm, though some species can reach 7 mm) found in aquatic habitats around the world. The do not actually swim, but dwell in plant matter around streams, ponds and rivers. Their larvae are not aquatic, and drown easily. They have a fossil record reaching back to the Early Jurassic.
In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 5 September 2013, Hendrik Freitag of the Department of Biology at the School of Science & Engineering at Ateneo de Manila University describes a new species of Hydraenid Beetle discovered in a pond on the campus of Ateneo de Manila University during an exercise for undergraduate students.
The new species is placed in the genus Hydraena and given the specific name Hydraena ateneo, in honour of Ateneo de Manila University, which in addition to being the site of discovery, is celebrating the fiftieth year of its Department of Biology this year. Hydraena ateneo is a 1.25-1.33 mm brown aquatic Beetle.
Hydraena ateneo, male specimen. Scale bar is 1 mm. Freitag (2013).
The approximate location of Ateneo de Manila University. Google Maps.
See also A new species of myrmecophilous Rove Beetle from the Peruvian Amazon, A new species of Longhorn Beetle from Southeast Asia, A new species of Marsh Rove Beetle from Japan, A new species of Chrysomeline Leaf Beetle from Ireland, England and Tasmania and A new species of Corythoderine Scarab Beetle from Cambodia.
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