#true bugs

uncharismaticmacrofauna:

bowelflies:

DEPLOY THE BOYS

Insect wings are incredible. Bird wings–while also amazing–seem so simple in comparison. 

The way that earwigs can fold their wings up into such a tiny space is just…perfection.

Ranatra fusca “Brown Waterscorpion” Nepidae

Lake Inez, Lolo National Forest, MT
May 23, 2017
Robert Niese

There’s something genuinely unnerving about insects viciously preying upon vertebrates, and waterscorpions are superbly specialized for this terrifying task. They sit near the surface of the water, head down, with their elongated, raptorial front limbs outstretched, waiting. Their long paired “tails” remain in contact with the water’s surface like a snorkel, allowing them to breathe while fully submerged. When some unlucky fish or tadpole swims too close, they snap them up like a mantis and immediately stab them with their sucking mouthparts. Their saliva both subdues and begins to digest their prey, allowing them to suck out the animal’s insides. On a completely unrelated note, this individual looks worse for wear, which led me to discover that adults actually overwinter in lakes and ponds here in Montana – not an easy task considering that most bodies of water freeze-over completely at some point. So apparently they’re indestructible AND hyper-specialized predators. Thank goodness they’re only five inches long.

Always accept a hug from a Lethocerus sp. if they’re offering!

Females of giant water bugs will lay their eggs on the backs of the males, who attend to the eggs by using their hind legs to brush oxygenated water onto them.

You may have also heard giant water bugs referred to as “toe biters.” They can indeed inflict some serious pain for their size if not properly handled, and even though they do eat species much larger than they are, humans are not typical fare.

We would often find these opportunistic feeders eating the larval fish in emigration traps in the wetlands of the St. Lawrence River. Can’t blame them for happening upon an easy meal.

Genus: Belostoma

Family: Belostomatidae

Order: Hemiptera (true bugs)

Collected on Nine Mile Creek, Onondaga County, NY.

Belostoma sp., in the Giant Water Bug family (Belostomatidae), are voracious predators. Typically they hang down from vegetation, with only their retractable breathing straps (located on the tip of their abdomen) above water. When prey get close they use their raptorial front legs to grab their meal and secure it.

Giant water bugs are strong swimmers, and will also actively pursue prey. If their target is on the large side they will hold on to it while it swims about, slowly killing it with poisonous salivary enzymes.

They will consume just about anything they can latch onto: insects, tadpoles, frogs, fish. There are even reports of finding giant water bugs latched onto small birds. 

Genus: Belostoma

Family: Belostomatidae

Order: Hemiptera (true bugs)

Collected on Nine Mile Creek, Onondaga County, NY.

Information taken from Voshell, JR. 2002.

Not the prettiest bug, but a pretty neat one. Metrobates is a member of the water strider family. They spread their enormously long legs to distribute their weight and use surface tension to stay on top of the water. 

Order: Hemiptera

Family: Gerridae

Genus:Metrobates

Arbutus Lake, NY

While very neat looking, Ranatra (Hemiptera, Nepidae) are relatively inept in the water, and move so slowly that sometimes other Hemipterans may lay their eggs on them. They are fierce predators however, eating other insects as well as small fish and tadpoles when they are able to catch them with their raptorial legs (Voshell, JR. 2002).

Hemiptera, Nepidae, Ranatra. French Creek, Jefferson County, NY.

bowelflies:

DEPLOY THE BOYS

Insect wings are incredible. Bird wings–while also amazing–seem so simple in comparison. 

The way that earwigs can fold their wings up into such a tiny space is just…perfection.