Additional records and new species of Hydraena Kugelann, 1794 (Insecta: Coleoptera: Hydraenidae) from Balabac and Palawan, Philippines

What is it about?

Minute Moss Beetles of the genus Hydraena are among the most diverse groups of Water Beetles. The bulk of these species in the tropical Biodiversity Hotspots of the world are not even yet discovered. This scientific paper updates the knowledge of the diversity and distribution of Hydraena beetles in the biogeographically interesting island of Palawan in the Philippines, from which alone 14 species are known by now, three of them newly discovered. One is named after the Swiss Gin Folk band “Buschi & Anni” on the occasion of their forthcoming album “HYDRAENA”. This patronage draws attention to these fascinating, but commonly overlooked insects, of which many are dependent on special microhabitats of undisturbed streams in natural rainforest. Because the large majority of these beetles is endemic to a rather small area or a single island many species are vulnerable due to deforestation and climate change. Hydraena beetles are anatomically special in their extremely enlarged mouthpart palps which remind of and partly take over the function of an insect antenna, while their actual antennae are small and used as respiratory snorkel. Therefore they are also called Long-palped Water Beetles. Furthermore, the newly discovered Hydraena perpussila is among the smallest beetles with an exceptionally minute size of usually less than a millimeter.

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