Ferocious Water Bug - Abedus sp.
I was so happy to visit the Toronto Zoo last weekend. It had been a long time since my last visit and it was wonderful to spend the day with some of my dearest friends! In addition to all the delightful outdoor mammalian and avian exhibits, there are plenty of indoor terrarium-based habitats to enjoy full of exotic and/or strange reptiles, amphibians, and insects (obviously) to discover. There are five species in total that I'll be covering over the next few weeks, beginning with a new branch of the Hemipteran order for the blog: Giant Water Bugs (Belostomatidae)! This exhibit mainly showcases the adults, but there are a few nymphs hiding around. As their common name suggests, these large insects make aquatic (freshwater) environments their primary habitat and are well adapted to it despite ultimately being creatures of the land. They all have a flattened, oval-shaped hydrodynamic body, flattened legs that can can tuck in and row, large eyes to visualize a wide view of their aquatic environment, and enlarged raptorial forelegs to seize prey that swims by. Stay clear of those claws, as anything caught in them gets painfully jabbed by the curved rostrum! Such a puncture has earned them the nicknames: "Toe-Biter", "Fish Killer" and "Alligator Flea". Furthermore, like their distant Nepomorpha cousin - the Backswimmer - Giant Water Bugs breathe air, and thusly need to bring it underwater with them since they lack a full set of gills.
To facilitate underwater respiration, these Bugs have adapted a rear abdominal respiratory siphon that they stick out of the water to obtain air while submerged. Yes, a butt-snorkel is the tool for the job! This is why many of the individuals here appear to be tilted as they sit in the water's flora. With larger specimens, it could be mistaken for a stinger, while different species use different types of snorkels to obtain air. From my research, Abedus Water Bugs use two reduced rear-tubes to obtain air and then store it underneath their forewings; they can store quite many a bubble due to their reduced wings beneath, effectively trading their ability to fly for an efficient scuba system. With efficient energy expenditure, they can remain underwater for minutes to hours, and thus have more time for hunting and other activities. Speaking of the latter, you may have noticed a few individuals covered in nodules here. These are male specimens. Females attach their eggs to the backs of males, and the latter will protect them...until they hatch. After they hatch, Abedus nymphs become fair game to hunt, and the nymphs share that behavior, with nymphs further along in development hunting and snatching smaller instars! With the number of eggs here, it looks like the zoo may have a feeding frenzy on its hands! When they aren't eating each other, Giant Water Bugs will eat anything they can grasp (even animals much larger than themselves, similar to Jagged Ambush Bugs) including struggling land insects, snails, tadpoles and fish.
Since the insects belong to the Toronto Zoo, I’ve marked them with the Mantis icon. Pictures were taken August 27, 2023 at the Toronto Zoo with a Google Pixel 4. Please go and visit the animals (insects very much included).
