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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) » Belostomatinae » Belostoma

Genus Belostoma

Classification · Other Common Names · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Works Cited
Giant Waterbug - Belostoma Giant Water Bug - Belostoma lutarium Belostoma in salt water - Belostoma lutarium Belostoma lutarium - Belostoma Nepomorpha ? - Belostoma flumineum Insect on beach - Belostoma Giant Water Bug (Lethocerus americanus) ??? - Belostoma Fish Crew Bug - Belostoma lutarium - male
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 Belostomatinae
Genus Belostoma
Other Common Names
Giant Water Bug, Toe Biter, Electric Light Bug
Explanation of Names
Belostoma Latreille 1807
Numbers
10 spp.* in our area(1)(2), several dozen total
*B. ellipticum records are questionable
Size
15‒41.5 mm
Identification
body football-shaped (oval with pointed ends); membrane of hemelytra large and well-developed; larger than Abedus immaculatus (Say) but most smaller than the other North American species of Abedus and Lethocerus (B. ellipticum and B. subspinosum larger)(3)(4)(5)(6) (7)
key to spp. in(1)
Range
widespread in NA(3), most diverse in the Neotropics
Habitat
slow-moving and standing water with submerged or emergent vegetation
Season
adults present all year
Food
nymphs and adults are predaceous on aquatic arthropods as well as snails, small fish, and the larvae and adults of frogs and toads
Life Cycle
one generation per year; overwinters as an adult; mating and egg laying occurs in late spring or early summer
Male with eggs
Remarks
Females cement their eggs to the backs of males, providing aeration and protection until the eggs hatch. (adult male B. flumineum carrying eggs)
Adults often hang head-downward from the water surface, breathing air through a short tube at the end of the abdomen
Adults can inflict a painful bite but usually play dead when captured
Works Cited
1.The semiaquatic and aquatic Hemiptera of California
Menke, Arnold S. (editor). 1979. Bulletin of the California Insect Survey, University of California Press, xi + 166 pp.
2.Two new records of aquatic Hemiptera (Belostomatidae, Mesoveliidae) from southern Florida, with keys to the genera Belostoma Lat
Pintar, M.R. 2023. Aquatic Insects.
3.Aquatic Insects of North America
R. W. Merritt, K. W. Cummins, M.B. Berg. 2008. Kendall/Hunt.
4.How to Know the True Bugs
Slater, James A., and Baranowski, Richard M. 1978. Wm. C. Brown Company.
5.Identification manual for the aquatic and semi-aquatic Heteroptera of Florida
Epler J.H. 2006. FL Dept. Env. Prot., Tallahassee, FL. 186 pp.
6.Choate P.M. () Giant water bugs, electric light bugs, Lethocerus, Abedus, Belostoma (Insecta: Hemiptera: Belostomatidae)
7.A taxonomic study of the genus Abedus Stål (Hemiptera, Belostomatidae)
Menke A.S. 1960. UC Publ. Entomol. 16: 393‒439.
Contributed by Robin McLeod on 2 May, 2005 - 2:41am
Additional contributions by v belov, marcie oconnor, Brady Richards, mpintar
Last updated 20 January, 2025 - 12:45pm

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