''Abedus herberti'', the toe biter (a name also used for several other giant water bugs) or ferocious water bug, is a species of

giant water bug Belostomatidae is a family of freshwater hemipteran 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 Flo ...

in the family

Belostomatidae Belostomatidae is a family of freshwater hemipteran 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 Flo ...

. It is native to streams, especially in highlands, in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

in the United States and in northwestern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Adults are typically long. The species is flightless, but may move overland between water sources. It will bite in self-defense, which is painful but not dangerous. ''A. herberti'' is often displayed in zoos, sometimes together with the

sunburst diving beetle ''Thermonectus marmoratus'' is a relatively colorful North American species of Dytiscidae, diving beetle known by the common names sunburst diving beetle and yellow-spotted diving beetle. The behavior of this diving beetle has been compared to a ...

. These two species also occur together in the wild.

Behavior

As in its relatives, ''A. herberti'' has an unusual breeding behavior where the female attaches the eggs to the male's back and he takes care of them until they hatch into

nymphs A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

. Each egg can measure as much as when fully developed, making them some of the largest insect eggs. After hatching from the eggs, the nymphs go through five

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'' 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...

stages before adulthood. ''A. herberti'' is a

sit-and-wait predator Ambush predators or sit-and-wait predators are carnivorous animals that capture their prey via stealth, luring or by (typically instinctive) strategies utilizing an element of surprise. Unlike pursuit predators, who chase to capture prey using ...

that catches small animals, especially invertebrates such as other aquatic insects and snails, but also small vertebrates such as young fish and

tadpole A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the Larva, larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully Aquatic animal, aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial animal, ...

s. Small and medium-sized prey items are caught with their strong front legs and stabbed with the

proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a pr ...

, which injects a saliva that both incapacitates the prey and dissolves it. The largest food category (animals or more in length) are mostly

scavenge Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding be ...

d. The only prey they regularly catch alive (not just scavenge) in the largest category is nymphs of their own species. Adults are generally highly

cannibalistic Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well documente ...

towards their nymphs and older nymphs often eat younger; adults however only rarely cannibalize other adults.

Subspecies

These two

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

belong to the species ''Abedus herberti'': * ''Abedus herberti herberti'' Hidalgo, 1935 * ''Abedus herberti utahensis'' Menke, 1960

References

External links

* {{Authority control Hemiptera of North America Belostomatidae Articles created by Qbugbot Insects described in 1935