Belostoma flumineum (Electric Light Bug) Giant Water Bug Adult Pictures

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Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

» Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

» Class Insecta (Insects)

» Order Hemiptera (True Bugs)

» Family Belostomatidae (Giant Water Bugs)

» Genus Belostoma (Toebiters)

» Species flumineum (Electric Light Bug)

I'm glad I finally got one of these Belostoma water bugs under my good camera. I had been hoping to get one in my kick-net samples for a while with no luck, but I ended up finding this one drifting midstream just below the surface while I fished. I have frequently seen water scorpions do that, too, and I'm beginning to suspect that is a common situation travel for these large Hemiptera bugs, and perhaps the way trout are used to seeing them.

This giant water bug was collected from the northeastern United States on April 24th, 2007 and added to Troutnut.com on April 25th, 2007.

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CameraCanon EOS 20D

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This is one of my favorite pictures. Belostoma and other Hemiptera bugs aren't fully aquatic, and when I stuck this one in my aquarium it quickly crawled out of the water and up to the highest point, a pair of tiny mushrooms growing on a soggy log.

CameraCanon EOS 20D

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CameraCanon EOS 20D

View Full Size (3.5X larger)

CameraCanon EOS 20D

View Full Size (3.5X larger)

CameraCanon EOS 20D

View Full Size (3.5X larger)

CameraCanon EOS 20D

View Full Size (3.5X larger)

The bottom side of this bug was quite shiny, maybe iridescent, but in a way that's hard to capture in a photo. I tried to do it with this one but it doesn't show up well. It was very hard to photograph this thing's bottom side at all, because it was so quick and adept at flipping itself back over.

CameraCanon EOS 20D

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