Meet the Water-Penny

The Water-penny (Psephenidae) is a family of beetles with around 270 different species that live all around the globe including in our local area. Water-penny beetle larvae are easily identified by their spherical body and are most commonly found in rocky rivers and streams. Water-pennies are reactive to changes in streams such as pollution, sedimentation, and algae/fungi growth, so they are useful with stream health identification. During the day, they will normally hide from light and predators under rocks, and then they will venture during the night to feed on algae and other stream debris. ACWA Community Science volunteers are sometimes lucky enough to find Water-pennies during our stream surveys! To find out more about the water-pennies, visit https://pondinformer.com/water-penny-beetle-psephenidae/

This edition of Wildlife Wednesday was by Zander Hine, ACWA Student Board member