← back to grid
Giant Water Bug

uncommon

Giant Water Bug

Lethocerus americanus

Habitat
Freshwater ponds and streams across North America
Body length
65 mm
Order
Hemiptera · Belostomatidae

Weird but real

Hunts frogs, small fish, even baby snakes by injecting digestive enzymes and slurping the liquefied insides through its beak.

Why it's cool

The ocean has the great white. Your local pond has this. Entomologists call its bite the worst pain in entomology, and they mean it as a compliment.

Photographs

American Giant Water Bug (Lethocerus americanus) in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Ryan Hodnett · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
A Giant water bug (Lethocerus americanus) I found in my backyard. Photo taken in Langley, BC
The High Fin Sperm Whale · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source