Berosus Water Scavenger Beetle

Description

Berosus spp. water scavenger beetles occupy an interesting niche in the pet bug tank. They don’t prey on their tankmates and work to keep things a bit clean through their scavenging duties. They have an interesting body shape compared with other tankmates and lend an element of diversity to the group tank.

Adults don’t need to rise to the surface to breathe, like many other aquatic insects. They can breathe underwater.

We have observed them feeding in algae in the tank and are suspected to feed also on decaying plant matter and maybe decaying insect matter or fish pellets. Their appetites in any case do not appear to be very large and they seem to find plenty to eat in our various tanks that include them.

Available as adults for $2 each. These are currently a very small species of Berosus, measuring maybe 3 to 5 mm.

We recommend that you choose overnight shipping. We ship them in moist sphagnum moss.

Do not release the adults into your backyard pond features, etc. They do not belong in your local ecosystem and may cause harm to your native balance of species.

More info and photos of this genus of insects can be found at Bugguide.net