The Hydroscaphidae are a small

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

of water beetles known commonly as skiff beetles. As of 2010, there are 23 species in the family. Several are recently described. These beetles are small, most under in length. They are tan to brown in color and the elytra are abbreviated, leaving several tapering tergites of the abdomen exposed. The wings are fringed with long

seta In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Depending partly on their form and function, protostome setae may be called macrotrichia, chaetae, ...

e. The

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e are fusiform, with a wide thorax and a narrowing abdomen. Hydroscaphidae live on mats of

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

with a thin layer of running water. This may be the accumulated algae lining the very edge of a stream of water. They tolerate a wide range of temperatures; they have been observed in

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

s and in icy

snowmelt In hydrology, snowmelt is surface runoff produced from melting snow. It can also be used to describe the period or season during which such runoff is produced. Water produced by snowmelt is an important part of the annual water cycle in many part ...

. The algae are their food source. The reproductive cycle is not well known. In at least one species, the female lays a single large egg on the algal mat. Hydroscaphid species have been reported from every continent except

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

. Genera: * '' Hydroscapha'' LeConte, 1874 – United States and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. * '' Scaphydra'' Reichardt, 1973 –

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. * '' Yara'' Reichardt & Hinton, 1976 –

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

. *'' Confossa'' Short, Joly, García & Maddison, 2015 –

References

External links

Hydroscaphidae.
Tree of Life. {{Taxonbar, from=Q135123 Myxophaga Beetle families Taxa named by John Lawrence LeConte

References

Further reading

External links