Psephenidae
Common name:
Water-penny beetlesNumber of species:
1Size Range:
1-2mmTarsi:
5-5-5.Images:
Description:
Only one species in Britain, Eubria palustris Germar, which is 2-3mm long and looks rather like a black, flattened ladybird with long threadlike antennae. Found most commonly in the splash zone of fast-flowing water, adults are short-lived and the aquatic larvae are more commonly found. These are known as ‘water-pennies’, due to their bronze colouration and flattened, rounded chiton-like appearance as they cling on to rocks and logs, where they eat algae.