Giant Water Bug
Location: Queensland, Australia
January 26, 2012 12:50 am
Hi guys,
Hope you like these shots of a giant water bug that was hanging around banging into a shiny piece of stainless steel in my carport. They will often mistake a reflective surface for water and attempt to drop into it.
The bug played dead when I got close to it and it allowed me to turn it over for a shot of its piercing mouthparts. It was determined not to give itself away until I picked it up and took it over to some long grass. When I dropped it on the grass it quickly righted itself and flew away.
Signature: aussietrev
Water Scorpion
Hi Trevor,
The very flattened body and extremely long, posterior breathing tube indicates that this is a Water Scorpion, and not a closely related Giant Water Bug. Interestingly, we found a photos of a Water Scorpion from Australia submitted by you in 2008 in our archive. We decided to do a bit more research and we found the AusEmade website that has a photo of an Australian Water Scorpion from Simpsons Gap that is identified as Laccotrephes tristis and contains this information: “One of the interesting looking insects found swimming in the pools is the Water Scorpion, whose other common name is Toe-biter. These strange looking creatures are carnivores, feeding on other aquatic organisms that they can capture including tadpoles, small frogs and small fish. They swim with the tip of their long needle like tail breaking the water surface, acting as a breathing siphon. With their large pincer-like forelegs used for seizing their prey, Water Scorpions can inflict a nasty nip, although they are also known to play dead when disturbed. Once they have grasped their prey, they inject a venom that liquefy the prey from the inside, which enables the Water Scorpion to suck out the prey’s body fluid.” The Identification and Ecology of Australian Freshwater Invertebrates website also has some good information. The Atlas of Living Australiahas a distribution map.
Water Scorpion
If you look closely at your close-up photos, you can see tiny red spots which we suspect are Mites. Several sources indicate a common name of Toe-Biter which is shared with the North American Giant Water Bugs.
Water Scorpion
Insect
Location: Ellisras (Limpopo)
December 12, 2011 11:51 pm
Good Morning
Can you tell me what insect this is.
Thank you
Signature: By email
Giant Water Bug
Dear By email,
Your insect is an aquatic Giant Water Bug. The species found in North America are commonly called Toe-Biters or Electric Light Bugs. The giants found in Southeast Asia are eaten as delicacies. Giant Water Bugs are found on all continents with the possible exception of Antarctica.
¶ Posted 13 December 2011 § ‡ ° I have never seen anything like this.
Location: Venice, FL
November 24, 2011 9:31 am
Found this insect in my boat in Venice, FL. Was about 3 inches long and strong as can be. Grabbed my boat hook hard enough I felt it grab it from the other end. Boat is parked near a Date Palm tree as well. Had wings tucked in, large front claws and a huge stinger. What is it?
Signature: Thanks, Jeff
Toe-Biter
Dear Jeff,
This is a Giant Water Bug or Toe-Biter. It is an aquatic insect that can also fly quite well. They can often be attracted to lights at night, sometimes in great numbers, and that has earned them another common name, Electric Light Bug.
¶ Posted 24 November 2011 § ‡ ° This big ol’ bug looking beetle
Location: Jackson, Michigan
November 10, 2011 8:29 pm
My friend found this bug outside of a Target parking lot and we can not find out what it was. It seems like a rather big and unusual bug. I have never seen anything like it before. Can you please help me figure out what it is?
Signature: N8
Toe-Biter
Toe-Biter
Hello,
I am not sure why, but I just received my email back with no answer or any other type of information submitted or requested.
Hi Nate,
Sometimes when we have numerous emails we are trying to respond to, we just send a brief identification. You missed our response which was “Toe-Biter”. A Toe-Biter is also called a Giant Water Bug or Electric Light Bug. It is an aquatic insect that is also capable of flying. A closely related and even larger species is considered a culinary delicacy in Thailand.
1
Water Beetle
Location: Thunder Bay, ON Canada
October 23, 2011 9:00 am
Found this bug in my pond. When I accidentally scooped him out of the water on to his back. He easily flipped himself over and went straight back into the water. I’m assuming its some type of water beetle can you tell me any more about it. Do they bite?
Signature: Pond Beetle
Giant Water Bug
Dear Pond Beetle,
Giant Water Bugs are not beetles. They are True Bugs. They are commonly called Toe-Biters and they can deliver a painful bite if carelessly handled or accidentally encountered in the water.
1
¶ Posted 23 October 2011 § ‡ ° Large brown beetle or bug of sorts
Location: Regina, Saskatchewan
October 6, 2011 1:45 pm
Hello my name is Austin and my girlfriend found this insect in a childrens play structure at work.
Signature: Austin Asmundson
Toe-Biter
Dear Austin,
We have received numerous recent identification requests for Toe-Biters, also known as Giant Water Bugs or Electric Light Bugs.
1
Argument husband vs wife
Location: caledon, ontario, canada
August 13, 2011 12:29 pm
Good day,
Me and my husband are trying to identify a bug we found dead in the stairwell leading from our garage to the house. We are trying to determine if it is a beetle or a cochroache..hopefully you can end this argement.
Signature: Christine
Toe-Biter
Stop arguing Christine. You are both wrong. This is a Giant Water Bug, also known as a Toe-Biter or Electric Light Bug. It is an aquatic predator that can also fly quite well. Close relatives from Thailand are quite large and are considered delicacies. They are sold on the street by food vendors there. Toe-Biters are among our most frequent identification requests.
yellow bettle? aquatic?
Location: Raymond, California
August 7, 2011 3:45 pm
I saw these two insects this morning in one of our creeks. They were both approximately the same length, but obviously different colors. The yellow one was firmly grasping the dark one – mating? Predation?
I am clueless on ids for both of them. Any ideas?
Signature: Megan Ralph
Giant Water Bug Nymphs compete for meal
Hi Megan,
We are confident that we have identified your insects as two immature individuals of a species of Giant Water Bug in the genus Abedus, based on this image of Abedus herberti posted to BugGuide. The yellow individual in your photos and the BugGuide image are newly molted nymphs in the teneral stage, meaning that their exoskeleton has not yet hardened and darkened. Insects are especially vulnerable immediately after metamorphosis. We believe the dark individual in your photos, also a nymph, is taking advantage of its weaker coeval by preying upon it. Of course, your photos do not reveal the final outcome, and the teneral individual may have actually been the victor in this food chain drama. BugGuide has a wealth of information on Abedus herberti, including this listed range: “Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, USA; northern Mexico” and this listed habitat: “Freshwater streams, especially in montane areas. They often inhabit intermittent streams, so they are isolated to individual rock pools (tinajas) during dry periods when streams do not exhibit overland flow.” This interesting note of food may explain the cannibalistic behavior that your photo illustrates: “All water bugs are predators. Abedus herberti eats other insects, small fish, small tadpoles, and will become cannibalistic when other food is scarce.” One final bit of information from BugGuide indicates that this might actually be a closely related species from California, Abedus indentatus: “Abedus is a difficult genus in which to identify species without a microscope for close examination. A. heberti is similar in appearance to most other Abedus species, but it is most similar to Abedus indentatus. A. indentatus is typically only found in California.” BugGuide has a dearth of information on the California species.
Cannibalistic tendencies in Giant Water Bug nymphs
Thank you so much for your detailed and extremely informative reply. That is the perfect description for the habitat where I saw them – a small stream that is beginning to dry up (rather late in the year actually – it was a wet spring).
Megan
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