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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Aquatic Bugs (Nepomorpha) » Nepoidea » Giant Water Bugs (Belostomatidae) » Lethocerinae

Subfamily Lethocerinae

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Works Cited
Lethocerus sp. - Lethocerus americanus Lethocerus americanus? - Lethocerus americanus Lethocerus americanus Giant Water Bug - Lethocerus uhleri Lethocerus griseus - Benacus griseus Belostomatidae: Lethocerus americanus? - Lethocerus americanus Belostomatidae: Lethocerus americanus? - Lethocerus americanus Lethocerus medius? - Lethocerus medius
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)
Infraorder Nepomorpha (Aquatic Bugs)
Superfamily Nepoidea
Family Belostomatidae (Giant Water Bugs)
Subfamily Lethocerinae
Explanation of Names
Lethocerinae Lauck & Menke 1961
Numbers
5 spp. in 2 genera in our area, ~25 spp. in 3 genera worldwide(1)
Size
at 53-120 mm, includes the largest Heteroptera(1); our spp. up to ~75 mm
Identification
forewings cover all of abdomen except for two tube-like appendages at posterior end that function in breathing atmospheric air which is then stored in a bubble beneath the wings
Range
worldwide (temperate to tropical regions), most diverse in the New World; one small genus restricted to E. Asia(1)
Works Cited
1.Taxonomic revision of the subfamily Lethocerinae Lauck & Menke (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae)
Perez-Goodwyn P.J. 2006. Stuttg. Beitr. Naturkd., A (Biologie) 695: 1–71.
Contributed by v belov on 3 October, 2013 - 1:47pm
Last updated 21 July, 2023 - 8:18pm

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