The Bonito diving beetle (Mystonectes neomexicanus): always rare and currently lost without observations since 1976

Abstract

The Bonito diving beetle, Mystonectes neomexicanus, is a predacious diving beetle (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) known from the Sacramento Mountains and the Rio Hondo in New Mexico, Brewster, and Presidio Counties in Texas, and Chihuahua, Mexico. The species has been recognized as rare and potentially threatened since 1991. Since then, it has been designated as a Federal Species of Concern in the United States, a Forest Service Sensitive Species, a Bureau of Land Management Sensitive Species, and a Species of Conservation Concern within the Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico. It has been over fifty years since the last known collection of this species and several recent attempts to rediscover the species at the type locality have been unsuccessful. As a result, the species is currently considered lost.