Platambus semivittatus

Platambus semivittatus · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Dytiscidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Platambus semivittatus
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0

Platambus semivittatus is a predaceous diving beetle that belongs to the family Dytiscidae. It is native to North America and is most commonly found from the Great Lakes region extending westward to Arizona.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It occurs across North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its distribution is wide in North America, especially from the Great Lakes area to Arizona.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 15 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Kansas, Illinois, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan, New York, Arizona.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Platambus semivittatus photo 2
Photo: Annika Lindqvist, CC BY

Same family (Dytiscidae)

Fringed Diving BeetleFringed Diving BeetleCybister fimbriolatusCosmopolitan Diving BeetleCosmopolitan Diving BeetleRhantus suturalisThermonectus basillarisThermonectus basillarisSunburst Diving BeetleSunburst Diving BeetleThermonectus marmoratusVertical Diving BeetleVertical Diving BeetleDytiscus verticalisChevrolat's DytiscidChevrolat's DytiscidCopelatus chevrolati

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platambus_semivittatus

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-25 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-25.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.