Belostomatidae is a family of freshwater insects known as giant water bugs or colloquially as toe-biters, Indian toe-biters, electric-light bugs (because they fly to lights in large numbers), alligator ticks, or alligator fleas (in Florida). They are the in the order Hemiptera.
The oldest fossil member of this family is Triassonepa from the Late Triassic-aged Cow Branch Formation of Virginia and North Carolina, United States.
Morphology
Belostomatids have a flattened, obovoid to ovoid-elongate body, and usually the legs are flattened.[ The head features two large , but lacks ocelli, contrasting with many hemipterans. Short antennae are tucked in grooves behind the eyes. A short breathing tube can be retracted into its abdomen.]
Their hind tarsi have two apical claws. The frontal legs are modified into raptorial appendages that they use to grab their prey, except in the African Limnogeton, which has "normal" forelegs and is a specialized snail-eater.[ Once caught, the prey are stabbed with their proboscis and a powerful proteolytic][ Wing pads can be seen from the dorsal view. While the members of the subfamily Lethocerinae can disperse by flying,][ other species, including Abedus herberti, have a greatly reduced flight apparatus and are flightless.][Perez Goodwyn, Pablo J. “Muscle Regression in Belostomatid Bugs (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae).” Aquatic Insects, vol. 23, no. 1, 2001, pp. 23–32, https://doi.org/10.1076/aqin.23.1.23.4927
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Subfamilies and genera
BioLib lists three extant subfamilies and a number of fossil taxa:
Belostomatinae
Auth. Leach, 1815
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Abedus Stål, 1862
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Appasus Amyot & Serville, 1843
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Belostoma Latreille, 1807
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Diplonychus Laporte de Castelnau, 1833 (synonym Sphaerodema Laporte, 1833)
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Hydrocyrius Spinola, 1850 (synonym Poissonia Brown, 1948)
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Limnogeton Mayr, 1853
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Weberiella De Carlo, 1966
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Fossil genera
Horvathiniinae
Auth. Lauck & Menke, 1961; South America
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Horvathinia Montandon, 1911
Lethocerinae
Auth. Lauck & Menke, 1961
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Benacus Stål, 1861
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Kirkaldyia Montandon, 1909
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Lethocerus Mayr, 1853
Fossil taxa
subfamily Stygeonepinae Popov, 1971 †
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Aenictobelostoma Polhemus, 2000 †
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Belostomates Schöberlin, 1888 †
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Lethopterus Popov, 1989 †
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Manocerus Zhang, 1989 †
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Scarabaeides Germar, 1839 †
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Triassonepa Criscione & Grimaldi, 2017 †
Habits
Feeding and defense
Belostomatids are aggressive that stalk, capture, and feed on fish, , as well as aquatic such as and . The largest species have also been found to capture and feed on baby turtles and water snakes.
Breeding
Belostomatids show paternal care and these aspects have been studied extensively, among others involving the North American Belostoma flumineum and the East Asian Lethocerus (Kirkaldyia) deyrollei. In species of the subfamily Belostomatinae, the eggs are typically laid on the male's wings and carried until they hatch. The male cannot mate during this period. The males invest considerable time and energy in reproduction and females take the role of actively finding males to mate. This role reversal matches the predictions of Robert Trivers parental investment theory. In the subfamily Lethocerinae, the eggs are laid on emergent vegetation and guarded by the male.
In Asian cuisine
Belostomatids can be found for sale in markets mainly in Southeast Asia involving the species Lethocerus indicus.[ In Southeast Asia they are often collected for this purpose using large floating traps on ponds, set with to attract the bugs. Adults fly at night, like many aquatic insects, and are attracted to lights during the breeding season.
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Further reading
External links
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