Ambrysus amargosus

Ambrysus amargosus is a rare species of insect in the family Naucoridae, the creeping water bugs. It is known by the common name Ash Meadows naucorid. It is endemic to Ash Meadows in Nye County, Nevada, where it is now restricted to one system of springs. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.

Ambrysus amargosus

Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Hemiptera
Suborder:
Heteroptera
Infraorder:
Nepomorpha
Family:
Naucoridae
Genus:
Ambrysus
Species:
A. amargosus
Binomial name
Ambrysus amargosus
La Rivers, 1953

This aquatic insect is about 6 millimeters long.[1] It does not fly. It lives in the Point of Rocks Springs at Ash Meadows, where it can be found in a few channels of flowing water measuring no more than 0.3 meters wide by 10 meters long. It was restricted to these trickles when the flowing spring water was channelized and impounded.[2] Ten acres have been designated critical habitat for this insect.[3]

Little is known about the insect's life history, but closely related insects feed on insect larvae and lay eggs underwater in the substrate.[3]

References
  1. Ambrysus amargosus. The Nature Conservancy.
  2. USFWS. Determination of threatened status with critical habitat for 6 plants and 1 insect in Ash Meadows, Nevada and California; and endangered status with critical habitat for 1 plant in Ash Meadows. Federal Register May 20, 1985.
  3. USFWS. Recovery Plan for the Endangered and Threatened Species of Ash Meadows, Nevada. September 1990.


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