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Species Lethocerus medius

Big brown bug - Arizona Chiricahua Mountain - 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

Genus Lethocerus

Species medius (Lethocerus medius)

Explanation of Names

Lethocerus medius (Guérin-Méneville 1857)

Size

♂ 49-58 mm, ♀ 62-63 mm(1)

Identification

Legs banded. Eyes closer together than they are wide, and with rear margins roughly straight across as viewed from above (not distinctly slanted). Very similar to L. uhleri (ranges overlap in e. TX), differs in basal segment of hind tarsus wider (wider than narrowest part of space between eyes), and hind tibia more obviously curved on outer margin (nearly straight in L. uhleri).(2)

Range

AZ to c. TX to Panama / W. Indies - Map (1)(3)

Habitat

in the northernmost part of its range, desert environments (forests in the south)(1)

Works Cited

1.	Taxonomic revision of the subfamily Lethocerinae Lauck & Menke (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae) Perez-Goodwyn P.J. 2006. Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde, Serie A (Biologie) 695: 1–71.

2.	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.

3.	Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

Contributed by margarethe brummermann on 11 September, 2009 - 6:10pm
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn, David Ferguson, v belov
Last updated 4 February, 2023 - 1:34pm

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