Hungerford's crawling water beetle
| Brychius hungerfordi | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Haliplidae |
| Genus: | Brychius |
| Species: | B. hungerfordi |
| Binomial name | |
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Brychius hungerfordi Spangler, 1954 |
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Hungerford's crawling water beetle (Brychius hungerfordi) is a critically endangered member of the Haliplidae family of water beetles. The US Fish and Wildlife Service Draft Recovery Plan for the species published August 2004 estimates roughly 1000 individuals are present in the wild. In 2010, a five-year summary report by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service found the population to be essentially unchanged.
The species was first discovered by Paul J. Spangler in 1954.
Hungerford's crawling water beetle was categorized as endangered on March 7, 1994, under the provisions of the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The Hungerford's crawling water beetle is currently not protected in Canada. At the time that the species was listed on the endangered species list, it was found only in three sites, all in Michigan. It is the most endangered species in Michigan and at the time of its listing, the only one limited exclusively to Michigan.
Known populations of Hungerford's crawling water beetles are limited to cold-water streams in only five locations. Four of these are in Michigan and one is in Ontario.
Almost all known Hungerford's crawling water beetles live in a single location: the East Branch of the Maple River in Emmet County, Michigan. This location consists of a two and a half mile stretch of the river downstream from the Douglas Road crossing. This area supports the only stable population of the Hungerford's crawling water beetle, recording nearly 1052 beetles when last counted in 2002. This area is largely within and along the boundary of the University of Michigan Biological Station.
Of the remaining sites, a second is also in Emmet County. This is near the Oliver Road crossing of the Carp Lake River, where 4 adult specimens were recorded in 1997, but erosion at the road seems to have harmed the habitat and no specimens were found in the last survey conducted in 2003.
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Wikipedia