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Great Diving Beetle

Great Diving Beetle line art illustration (click image to enlarge)

Great Diving Beetle full color illustration (click image to enlarge)

Artist's notes:

The Great Diving Beetle was completed on 1.25.2012. I had pretty much given up on drawing beetles, as I had drawn a series of five different species back in 2005 and these illustrations had never really generated much interest as I had hoped they would. But recently I was commissioned to draw a series of insects by a private client. So, I decided to add another couple species of beetle. I also wanted to add to my image library of pond insects so the diving beetle was the perfect choice.

Information about the Great Diving Beetle:

The Great Diving Beetle is a large aquatic insect native to ponds, marshes, lakes and slow moving streams of Europe and northern Asia. The are very frequently encountered in England. The beetles are indeed fairly large with a length of about an inch to an inch and a half (27-35 mm.) These beetles live on in freshwater, usually with a good amount of plant life. While they spend much of their time in and under the water's surface, they are very able fliers, which they usually do only at night. When in flight, they use the reflection of the moon to find other water sources. Before diving to search for prey, D. marginalis will collect tiny bubbles of air in their wing cases.