The Spercheidae are a very small family of beetles comprising only a single genus, Spercheus. Members of the family are found in all biogeographical regions except the Nearctic region, with the greatest diversity reported from the tropical areas of the Oriental and Afrotropical zones. The beetles primarily inhabit shallow, stagnant waters rich in vegetation, such as overgrown pools, oxbow lakes, ponds or wetlands. In some cases, they also colonise slightly saline habitats. Adults are very well adapted to life on and below the water’s surface – they retain an air bubble on the underside of their bodies, which enables them to breathe underwater. Spercheidae is the only family within the order Coleoptera whose members feed by filtering food directly from the water; the adults preferentially consume algae filtered from the water’s surface, whilst the larvae feed mainly on organic debris and small invertebrates from the surface or subsurface layers. A distinctive biological feature is maternal care, in which the female carries the fertilised eggs in a special web-like pouch attached to the underside of her abdomen.

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Family Card

Spercheus emarginatus