JungleDragon is a nature and wildlife community for photographers, travellers and anyone who loves nature. We're genuine, free, ad-free and beautiful.

Join

Madagascan Giant Water Bug - frontal Look at those raptorial front legs!<br /> <br /> ...<br /> <br /> Specimen. Even when dead I was intimidated by it and glad to have this one out of the way. At 8cm, it&#039;s a massive insect. Species in this genus are known to be some of the largest True Bugs (hemiptera) in the world. They&#039;ve earned the nickname &quot;Toe biter&quot; for their extremely painful sting.<br /> <br /> Besides overall size being impressive, another noteworthy feature are their massively thick legs. It seems an extremely strong insect, a fast swimmer but also one able to latch on and hold onto large struggling prey such as snails, frogs, tadpoles and small fish. Its front legs are raptorial, whilst the hind legs are optimized for floating as well as swimming. They can even fan out extra hair to get more grip on the water when chasing prey.<br /> <br /> Once within its grip, the bug will pierce the prey with a needle-like rostrum and inject toxic enzymes.<br /> <br /> They can even fly, which is usually done at night, where they often get disoriented by light. <br /> <figure class="photo"><a href="https://www.jungledragon.com/image/110562/madagascan_giant_water_bug_-_body_shot.html" title="Madagascan Giant Water Bug - body shot"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/2/110562_thumb.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1759968010&Signature=KsiDT6YwbjCDoKhRN56w1hlB33g%3D" width="200" height="146" alt="Madagascan Giant Water Bug - body shot Specimen. Even when dead I was intimidated by it and glad to have this one out of the way. At 8cm, it&#039;s a massive insect. Species in this genus are known to be some of the largest True Bugs (hemiptera) in the world. They&#039;ve earned the nickname &quot;Toe biter&quot; for their extremely painful sting.<br /> <br /> Besides overall size being impressive, another noteworthy feature are their massively thick legs. It seems an extremely strong insect, a fast swimmer but also one able to latch on and hold onto large struggling prey such as snails, frogs, tadpoles and small fish. Its front legs are raptorial, whilst the hind legs are optimized for floating as well as swimming. They can even fan out extra hair to get more grip on the water when chasing prey.<br /> <br /> Once within its grip, the bug will pierce the prey with a needle-like rostrum and inject toxic enzymes.<br /> <br /> They can even fly, which is usually done at night, where they often get disoriented by light.<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/110564/madagascan_giant_water_bug_-_frontal.html<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/110565/madagascan_giant_water_bug_-_mug_shot.html Lethocerus Oculatus,Madagascan Giant Water Bug" /></a></figure><br /> <figure class="photo"><a href="https://www.jungledragon.com/image/110565/madagascan_giant_water_bug_-_mug_shot.html" title="Madagascan Giant Water Bug - mug shot"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/2/110565_thumb.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1759968010&Signature=1I4euuXyWTUGR06Phhj6nIrpmGU%3D" width="200" height="134" alt="Madagascan Giant Water Bug - mug shot Note: not happy with this image as the specimen had some moldy spots. Still sharing it for the interesting view on the needle-like rostrum. I first thought the specimen was damaged and its mouth parts broken. It turns out it really looks like this also in live subjects:<br /> https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/V8ji9OfM1dSzrR9YMf4LWOiPkZauCSAVoX5amyS0M4xPNtUZ3Zi1OMjt7Ci2bmhM1LDteGDx_HSB3AvNtkjN1f_Kh8VAubbf5rJHoJEonfUk<br /> <br /> ...<br /> <br /> Specimen. Even when dead I was intimidated by it and glad to have this one out of the way. At 8cm, it&#039;s a massive insect. Species in this genus are known to be some of the largest True Bugs (hemiptera) in the world. They&#039;ve earned the nickname &quot;Toe biter&quot; for their extremely painful sting.<br /> <br /> Besides overall size being impressive, another noteworthy feature are their massively thick legs. It seems an extremely strong insect, a fast swimmer but also one able to latch on and hold onto large struggling prey such as snails, frogs, tadpoles and small fish. Its front legs are raptorial, whilst the hind legs are optimized for floating as well as swimming. They can even fan out extra hair to get more grip on the water when chasing prey.<br /> <br /> Once within its grip, the bug will pierce the prey with a needle-like rostrum and inject toxic enzymes.<br /> <br /> They can even fly, which is usually done at night, where they often get disoriented by light.<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/110562/madagascan_giant_water_bug_-_body_shot.html<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/110564/madagascan_giant_water_bug_-_frontal.html Extreme Macro,Lethocerus Oculatus,Madagascan Giant Water Bug" /></a></figure> Extreme Macro,Extreme Macro Portraits,Lethocerus Oculatus,Madagascan Giant Water Bug Click/tap to enlarge Promoted

Madagascan Giant Water Bug - frontal

Look at those raptorial front legs!

...

Specimen. Even when dead I was intimidated by it and glad to have this one out of the way. At 8cm, it's a massive insect. Species in this genus are known to be some of the largest True Bugs (hemiptera) in the world. They've earned the nickname "Toe biter" for their extremely painful sting.

Besides overall size being impressive, another noteworthy feature are their massively thick legs. It seems an extremely strong insect, a fast swimmer but also one able to latch on and hold onto large struggling prey such as snails, frogs, tadpoles and small fish. Its front legs are raptorial, whilst the hind legs are optimized for floating as well as swimming. They can even fan out extra hair to get more grip on the water when chasing prey.

Once within its grip, the bug will pierce the prey with a needle-like rostrum and inject toxic enzymes.

They can even fly, which is usually done at night, where they often get disoriented by light.

Madagascan Giant Water Bug - body shot Specimen. Even when dead I was intimidated by it and glad to have this one out of the way. At 8cm, it's a massive insect. Species in this genus are known to be some of the largest True Bugs (hemiptera) in the world. They've earned the nickname "Toe biter" for their extremely painful sting.<br /> <br /> Besides overall size being impressive, another noteworthy feature are their massively thick legs. It seems an extremely strong insect, a fast swimmer but also one able to latch on and hold onto large struggling prey such as snails, frogs, tadpoles and small fish. Its front legs are raptorial, whilst the hind legs are optimized for floating as well as swimming. They can even fan out extra hair to get more grip on the water when chasing prey.<br /> <br /> Once within its grip, the bug will pierce the prey with a needle-like rostrum and inject toxic enzymes.<br /> <br /> They can even fly, which is usually done at night, where they often get disoriented by light.<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/110564/madagascan_giant_water_bug_-_frontal.html<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/110565/madagascan_giant_water_bug_-_mug_shot.html Lethocerus Oculatus,Madagascan Giant Water Bug

Madagascan Giant Water Bug - mug shot Note: not happy with this image as the specimen had some moldy spots. Still sharing it for the interesting view on the needle-like rostrum. I first thought the specimen was damaged and its mouth parts broken. It turns out it really looks like this also in live subjects:<br /> https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/V8ji9OfM1dSzrR9YMf4LWOiPkZauCSAVoX5amyS0M4xPNtUZ3Zi1OMjt7Ci2bmhM1LDteGDx_HSB3AvNtkjN1f_Kh8VAubbf5rJHoJEonfUk<br /> <br /> ...<br /> <br /> Specimen. Even when dead I was intimidated by it and glad to have this one out of the way. At 8cm, it's a massive insect. Species in this genus are known to be some of the largest True Bugs (hemiptera) in the world. They've earned the nickname "Toe biter" for their extremely painful sting.<br /> <br /> Besides overall size being impressive, another noteworthy feature are their massively thick legs. It seems an extremely strong insect, a fast swimmer but also one able to latch on and hold onto large struggling prey such as snails, frogs, tadpoles and small fish. Its front legs are raptorial, whilst the hind legs are optimized for floating as well as swimming. They can even fan out extra hair to get more grip on the water when chasing prey.<br /> <br /> Once within its grip, the bug will pierce the prey with a needle-like rostrum and inject toxic enzymes.<br /> <br /> They can even fly, which is usually done at night, where they often get disoriented by light.<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/110562/madagascan_giant_water_bug_-_body_shot.html<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/110564/madagascan_giant_water_bug_-_frontal.html Extreme Macro,Lethocerus Oculatus,Madagascan Giant Water Bug

    comments (3)

  1. View Christine Young's profile
    Christine Young
    Lion
    View Lion class
    LOVE this! It looks like it's been pumping iron ;P.

    These bugs are super cool and terrifying. I've handled Lethocerus numerous times without getting bitten, but I know other people who have been less fortunate in their encounters.     Posted 4 years ago
    1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
      Ferdy Christant
      Lion
      View Lion class
      Lol. Honestly I don't think if I've seen insect legs so thick before. Almost crab-like. Posted 4 years ago
      1. View Christine Young's profile
        Christine Young
        Lion
        View Lion class
        Makes you feel bad for its prey. Posted 4 years ago

Sign in or Join in order to comment.

The Madagascan Giant Water Bug

Lethocerus Oculatus, the Madagascan Giant Water Bug, is a Giant Water Bug in the Lethocerus genus.

Info 3 0
Similar species: True Bugs
Species identified by Ferdy Christant
View Ferdy Christant's profile

By Ferdy Christant

All rights reserved
Uploaded Mar 13, 2021. Captured Mar 12, 2021 22:04.
country flag of Netherlands Explore Netherlands 8,314 2,306 0
  • NIKON D850
  • f/11.0
  • 1/60s
  • ISO100
  • 50mm

This photo also appears in

Discover more photo collections