Sphaeridium lunatum

Description

Length 5.5 to 7.5 mm. A very smooth, blackish dome shaped beetle with pale yellow tips to the lytra and faint reddish blotches on its sides.

Identification difficulty
Habitat

Around herbivorous animals.

When to see it

April to October.

Life History

Adults feed on the fresh dung of herbivorous animals; their young are predators of small insect larvae.

UK Status

Fairly frequent and widespread in England and Wales.

VC55 Status

Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. There were a total of 32 VC55 records for this species up to March 2015.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Species group:
Beetles
Kingdom:
Animalia
Order:
Coleoptera
Family:
Hydrophilidae
Records on NatureSpot:
11
First record:
01/05/1992 (Jon Daws)
Last record:
26/05/2023 (Gray, Stephen)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.

In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.

Latest images

Latest records