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Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

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Subfamily Lethocerinae

Giant Water Bug - Benacus griseus Roach from Publix - Benacus griseus beetle or some weird bug - Lethocerus uhleri Belostomatidae - Lethocerus americanus What Species? - Lethocerus Water Bug - Benacus griseus Uhler's Giant Water Bug - Lethocerus uhleri Benacus or Lethocerus? - Benacus griseus
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.