Description

Hydrophilus sp.
Late Pleistocene (Rancholabrean)
Rancho La Brea Formation
McKittrick Tar Pits
Kern County, California, USA

1.75 inch beetle on 3 inch matrix

Hydrophilus is a genus of aquatic beetles in the family Hydrophilidae. The tar pits are famous for sabercats and other large predators but the deposits are well-known to entomologists for the insects that are also preserved in the tar. Hydrophilus larvae are predaceous attacking other insects and even tadpoles and small fishes while the adults generally feed on bits of organic matter.

The family Hydrophilidae dates back perhaps as long ago as the Late Triassic but it seems the best specimens come out of the Late Pleistocene tar pits.