Giant Water Bug Nymph- Belostoma sp.

AKA, "toe-biter", these bugs can inflict a really painful bite. The red blobs are mites! There were so many on this poor bug.

Habitat: Found in a small, woodland pond

comments (6)

FrannySopranny

Mountain Gorilla

Neat! I haven't seen mites on a toe-biter. Posted 6 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks! In my minimal experience with aquatic insects, I have seen mites more frequently on Lethocerus sp., which I'm debating if this could be instead of Belostoma. The forelegs don't look right for Lethocerus though. I'll have to post on BugGuide! Posted 6 years ago

Ernst

Lion

It can inflict a painful bite also on a hand. Posted 6 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Indeed they can. I have only been bitten once, about 15 years ago when I was in grad school...And, I'm sorry to say it was provoked - I wanted to see how badly their bites hurt and purposely annoyed the bug to get it to bite me. It definitely hurt, a lot. I have handled them many times other than that though, and have not been bitten. I don't recommend this though! Posted 6 years ago

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Wow, how big are these? Posted 6 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  This one was only ~2 cm. Adults grow up to 10 cm, but most are around 4 cm. Posted 6 years ago

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