I’m not sure this is native to the United States
Location: Baltimore, MD (but I’m not sure its domestic)
April 22, 2011 9:05 am
I was recently at work and happened to look down when I was leaving. On the ground and on its back it kind of looked like a large beetle, but I flipped it over and it definitely wasn’t a beetle. It was about 4-5” in length and didn’t move around even though it was alive. I’ve tried to find information about it but nobody knows what it is, could you find out the name of it?
Signature: Shawn Yoder
Giant Water Bug
Hi Shawn,
This is a Giant Water Bug in the genus Lethocerus, and it is most likely one of five native species, though it has similar looking relatives in other parts of the world. Alas, we haven’t the necessary skills to determine if this is a native species or one of its foreign relatives, however, we suspect it is native. You can view photos of the natives on BugGuide. Giant Water Bugs are not beetles, as you have observed, and they are also called Toe-Biters since their bite is reported to be quite painful and Electric Light Bugs since they are attracted to lights at night. They are the largest True Bugs in North America, though foreign relatives, especially those in Southeast Asia where they are eaten as delicacies, are significantly larger. If your specimen was truly over four inches in length, it might well be a foreign import as North American individuals are allegedly only three inches in length.
Unknown large bug
Location: 1026 Washington Ave. S. E. Mpls, MN
April 13, 2011 12:47 pm
Please identify.
Signature: Pauline Pipho
Toe-Biter
Ed. Note: Our original unposted response follows.
watch your feet. It’s a toe-biter
Name it; can you give me more information?
Dear Pauline,
We did name it. This is a Giant Water Bug and it is commonly called a Toe-Biter. Just exactly how much more information do you want? Your original message asked for an identification. We were amused by the two photos you sent with the foot included as scale, hence our brief message. As the weather across North America warms with spring, the number of email identification requests we receive daily rises greatly, so much so that our tiny staff is unable to even respond to every request. Additionally, more and more identification requests are being delivered with cellular technology, and the quality of the grammar and spelling of the identification requests plummets as the word count drops. We respond from a desktop computer each morning before leaving for a traditional job, so we fire off as many requests as possible in the time allotted. A google search of Toe-Biter should provide you with all the information you desire. We have read that the bite of a Giant Water Bug is quite painful, yet we rarely hear that anyone is bitten.
¶ Posted 14 April 2011 § ‡ ° big scary looking bug!!?!?!
Location: South Australia
April 3, 2011 5:45 pm
This bug was found in a container that was shipped to Bunnings (local hardware store in Australia). it is in a white bucket with base diameter approx 250mm. local quarantine guys came to pick it up and said it was a ”standard bug found in the waterways of Queensland…..” and took it away. The guy from bunnings said, ”the container didn’t even come from Queensland???”
Signature: ?????
Giant Fishkiller
Dear ?????,
This is a Giant Water Bug in the genus Lethocerus, and they are found in many parts of the world, including Australia. In North America, the common names include Electric Light Bug because they are attracted to lights at night, and Toe-Biter because they will bite if carelessly handled or accidentally stepped on while swimming. The Australian Museum website provides another common name that is new to us, and perhaps unique to Australia: Giant Fishkiller. Giant Water Bugs are predatory and they will prey upon almost any small aquatic creatures they can catch, including small fish. Your letter did not indicate the source of the container.
What is this?
Location: Palm Canyon, near Palm Springs, CA
April 1, 2011 6:17 pm
We saw this bug in the cold, cold water near Palm Springs, CA the first week of March. (Palm Canyon – Stone Pools). It stayed undewater for a while and then came up and seemed to breathe through a tube that came from its rear end. Pretty large bug…not sure what is on its back….babies?
Signature: Mary, Asheville, NC
Male Giant Water Bug with Eggs
Hi Mary,
This is a Giant Water Bug, and it is something of an anomaly in the insect world in that the male of the species cares for the eggs, which are cemented by the female onto the back of the male. The most commonly encountered Giant Water Bugs are the Toe-Biters in the genus Lethocerus, but that genus does not exhibit this paternal care. Two other genera, Abedus and Belostoma, are both found in California, and they both exhibit paternal care of the eggs. Alas, we haven’t the necessary skills to determine which genus your individual belongs to.
What a great website!!!! Thanks! I wonder how many people stumble upon a Giant Water Bug with babies cemented on its back breathing through a tube! So cool!
Mary
Giant Bugs in Indiana?
Location: Found dead in NW Indiana
March 20, 2011 9:53 pm
Greetings!
I work at a hotel in NW Indiana and happened across this guy in the parking lot. I’m thinking that maybe it hitchhiked on someones car (at least thats what I’m hoping) because I’ve NEVER seen a bug this big in Indiana before… Please help me identify this bug!!! My thinking is that it’s a beetle of some sort.. a few people suggested a cicada but its MUCH bigger then those guys :p
Signature: A little freaked out — Molly
Toe-Biter
Hi Molly,
The Giant Water Bug or Toe-Biter is a local insect for you. You have probably not seen them before as they are an aquatic species that inhabits still bodies of water like ponds, lakes and swamps. As adults, Giant Water Bugs fly quite well, and they are often attracted to brightly lit locations like parking lots, hence another common name, Electric Light Bug. The Giant Water Bug is the largest True Bug in North America, though it is dwarfed by closely related species in Southeast Asia which grows to about five inches in length.
please help me identifying this bug!!!
Location: uruguay, la paloma
January 25, 2011 11:29 pm
Bugman,
i was staying for the weekend in la paloma, uruguay, and while chilling out outside my hotel bedroom, this strange bug fell near us. Neither me, my boyfriend or the hotel concierge could identify it, this man told us he never saw a bug like that on that area on his entire life. since then im trying to look it up on the internet but i cant find it, although some beetles looks like it.
please help me!
geographic location: LA PALOMA, URUGUAY
season: SUMMER
Signature: Natalie
Toe-Biter
Dear Natalie,
When we originally began writing What’s That Bug? as a print column in a photocopied zine American Homebody back in 1998, we thought we would have an easy time identifying large creatures that wandered into homes in Los Angeles, and then when What’s That Bug? became a column on the now defunct website AmericanHomebody.com in 1999, we figured we would still have the wherewithal to be able to deal with things on a more national level. As we became more and more popular, and we became a unique website, things got more complicated and now we are often mistakenly regarded as scientific experts who are fully capable of identifying to the species level the most obscure and confusing creatures found throughout the far reaches of the world wide web and beyond. That is simply not the case, but your insect is refreshingly easy for us to identify. This is a Giant Water Bug, one of the aquatic predators in the family Belostomatidae. It doesn’t matter if they are from California, Texas, Maryland, Costa Rica, Africa, Thailand or Australia, Giant Water Bugs in the family Belostomatidae are easy for us to classify to the family level, though an expert is required to narrow things to the species level. Giant Water Bugs all look and act similarly. They are aquatic predators and adults are quite capable of flying great distances. They are attracted to lights, and in North America they are commonly called Electric Light Bugs, but we prefer the more scintillating name Toe-Biter because of the images it conjures up. Many a swimmer has gotten a painful bite from an unfortunate encounter with a Toe-Biter. In Thailand and in other parts of the world, they are considered delicacies and they may be purchased from street vendors. They are even available in certain specialty grocery stores.
I would love to know what this is.
Location: South Louisiana
December 18, 2010 4:47 pm
Hi there,
I found this odd looking bug underneath my carport one night. We had our large outdoor florescent light on and it was just sitting on the concrete. I’ve seen this bug once or twice before, but not very often. It just looks weird! I’m not sure if it’s a type of beetle, or related to the large flying stinkbugs that we have here in South Louisiana.
Signature: Bugged in Cajun Country
Toe-Biter
Dear Bugged,
This is a Giant Water Bug or Toe-Biter, so named because of the painful bite received by so many swimmers in freshwater ponds and lakes where this large predator prowls for aquatic insects as well as tadpoles and small fish. Another common name for the Giant Water Bug is Electric Light Bug because it is commonly attracted to lights while flying from pond to pond. Though it is quite streamlined in both the water and the air, it is awkward on land.
¶ Posted 18 December 2010 § ‡ ° Bug in Southeast Georgia
Location: Southeast Georgia north Florida
November 7, 2010 5:25 pm
I moved to Camden county GA I work in Charlton County there is a Bug that no one can tell me the name of.
It looks like a big Roach the smallest one I have seen is about 1-1/2 inch to about 3 inch long about 1/2 inch to 1 inch wide with these big grabbers or claws in front sorry i am not a artist but it looks something like this
Signature: dove
Toe-Biter we presume
Dear dove,
There is little doubt in our mind that you have drawn a Toe-Biter or Giant Water Bug. We are posting a photograph with your drawing and linking to the Bug of the Month posting of the Toe-Biter from 2008.
Toe-Biter
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