Agabus sturmii

The beetle was temporarily laid on its back to examine the underside. Naturally the animal tries to escape this akward position by turning around with wild movements, but the short flash time still gives us a sharp photo. The bottom appears lighter than it is , the photo is deliberately overexposed to make the structures better visible. In natural light the underside is a much darker brown than in these two photos. In the right image, the bat- or bird-like shape of the metasternum is indicated in black when the mouse arrow is moved over it. The yellow arrows indicate one of the "wings" of this shape. These wings here are broadly triangular and not as narrow as in A. undulatus.

The photo below gives an impression of the actual color of the underside. The image shows, as does the photo above, that the elytra protrude far over the body along the edges: these epipleurs are therefore wide.

On the right of the photo you can faintly see the rear end of another beetle, which can be seen in its entirety in the reduced overall photo below:

It is an Agabus undulatus specimen, which was caught at the same time as the Agabus sturmii specimen discussed here.

Click on the images below to see other photos of Agabus sturmii.

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