Huge bug I found one night stuck to a screen door. - Lethocerus americanus

I live in Queensland in Austr

I live in Queensland in Australia.. Last night I found one of these bugs on screen door. The first thing I thought it looked prehistoric. The eyes were huge and frankly I had never seen anything like this in my life. Is there anywhere I can go to find out more info on bug. We recently have had 75% of our state in flood out west and to the south. Just to the north we have had cyclone Yasi.. Will this have contributed to it exposing its existance to us at this time.. thanks in advance

… positive01, 9 February, 2011 - 7:04am

Moved

Moved from Lethocerus.

… v belov, 1 February, 2010 - 8:18am

Amazing, we live in Southeast

Amazing, we live in Southeast Louisiana and my son caught one of these last night.I wonder if they have come out because of the recent hurricanes or if they normally "hang out" in this area. We'd never seen one before, and were interested to find out what it was. He or she will be donated for a 4-H bug collection project for a friend! So thanks for the info!

… jjam5, 24 September, 2008 - 9:18am

I live in SE La also...

(Kenner) and I have found several of these around gas stations along Highway 61 near Destrahan at night. The gas station is across Airline Hwy from a canal or bayou. The lights attract them. I brought one of them home and set-up an aquarium for my daughter to watch it. I wasn't able to get a good picture of it though... The first one I saw was about a year after Katrina/Rita and I haven't seen any since Gustav/Ike

… Ron M., 24 September, 2008 - 10:31pm

What you have is...

A Giant Water Bug Lethocerus

There are three species in this genus. I think the species you have is L. americanus but I am not 100% sure.

Example:

You should enter the date the picture was taken using MM/DD/YY format. Currently your date is showing as December 31, 1969 which indicates that you might have used the wrong format while entering the data initially.

I will crop this image to show the bug in more detail.

-and-

Welcome to BugGuide!

… Ron M., 21 September, 2008 - 9:28am

Thanks!

That answers that!

Are they common around here? And what is a water bug doing on my window, 50 feet from the water????

… semisquirrel, 21 September, 2008 - 9:34am

Another common name...

for these guys besides "Toe-biter" is "Electric Light Bug".

There are attracted to lights at night. You most likely had you porch light on by that door the night before...

… Ron M., 21 September, 2008 - 9:44am

found one in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada

Hi everyone. I found two of these exact same bugs lastnight in the Loblaws parking lot far far away from any water source. I thought at first it was a cockroach, but I guess it's not. I live in Peterborough, Ontario Canada. Do these bugs bite? or are they destructive in any way? It kind of creeps me out, what should I do with it??

… April D, 21 May, 2009 - 10:52am