LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) _ A public hearing is being held today in Lincoln concerning the rare Salt Creek tiger beetle.

The hearing concerns a proposal to set aside nearly 1,800 acres in Lancaster and Saunders counties for the endangered beetle.

The half-inch-long beetle is considered one of the rarest insects in the United States. It was listed as endangered in October 2005. It is metallic brown to dark-olive green and lives in rare saline wetlands found in eastern Nebraska.

Loss of saline wetland and stream habitats and changes in hydrology are blamed for the decline of the species.

Recent surveys on three populations along Little Salt Creek found only 263 beetles.