Giant bugs
| Giant bugs | ||||||||||
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| Belostomatidae | ||||||||||
| Leach , 1815 |
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Giant bugs (Belostomatidae) are a family of bugs (Heteroptera) in the suborder of water bugs (Nepomorpha). They occur worldwide with approx. 150 species , of which only one species, Lethocerus patruelis , is native to Europe . Their main distribution area are the tropics and subtropics .
features
The bugs reach body lengths between 2 and 12 centimeters. This means that some members of this family are among the largest bugs in the world. They have an oval, streamlined and flat body and are usually dark brown in color. As with the closely related scorpion bugs (Nepidae), their forelegs are formed into strong catch legs. In contrast to the scorpion bugs, their middle and rear pairs of legs are well developed as swimming legs with wide, flattened splints ( tibia ) and phalanges ( tarsi ) and dense, rigid swimming bristles. They are good swimmers and good fliers. They have scent glands on the abdomen and a very short, fold-out breathing tube at the end of the abdomen.
Way of life
The bedbugs, which live in both stagnant and slow-flowing waters, usually stay at the bottom of the water and hunt arthropods , newts , frogs and fish there . They catch their prey and inject them with their proboscis their saliva that stuns the prey and dissolves from the inside. The sting is painful to humans too. The animals often come ashore in the evening and fly around because they are attracted by light sources, especially during the mating season.
development
In some species of giant bugs, the females actively seek out their mate. The males draw attention to themselves by creating characteristic wave formations on the water surface through periodic movements. The pairing is repeated up to 30 times. The eggs are ready for laying one month after mating. A real fight then takes place between males and females, in which the female regularly wins and makes the male docile. It mounts the male and sticks her eggs on his back. An average clutch contains 100 eggs. The male takes care of the brood and carries the eggs around and guards them until the larvae hatch after about a week and then lead a life of their own. The incubation period can be shorter at higher temperatures. Then the males are ready to mate again. The males often carry the remains of empty eggshells on their backs for a long time. If they mate again, the female removes these remains before laying eggs.
Use by humans
Giant bugs are used as food insects in parts of East Asia and Southeast Asia . They are caught with traps floating on the water that are irradiated with UV lamps.
Systematics
The giant bug family is divided into three subfamilies:
Subfamily Belostomatinae
Subfamily Horvathiniinae
Subfamily Lethocerinae
Types (selection)
- Abedus herberti Hidalgo , 1935
- Appasus japonicus Vuillefroy , 1864
- Lethocerus americanus ( Leidy , 1847)
- Lethocerus deyrollei ( Vuillefroy , 1864)
- Lethocerus grandis ( Linnaeus , 1758)
- Lethocerus indicus ( Lepeletier & Serville , 1775)
- Lethocerus insulanus Montandon , 1898
- Lethocerus patruelis ( Stål , 1854)
Fossil evidence
Fossil evidence of giant bugs is very rare. One of the oldest fossil finds is a giant bug from the Eocene moler in Denmark.
credentials
- ^ Sven Gisle Larsson: Baltic Amber - a Palaeobiological Study. Entomonograph Volume 1, Klampenborg (DK) 1978
- Belostomatidae. Fauna Europaea, accessed December 4, 2006 .
- KHC Jordan: Water bugs. The New Brehm Library, Leipzig, 1950.
