Coming back from a run, I found this American Giant Water Bug in the alley. It was lying on its back not moving, so I thought it was dead. I still picked it up carefully since they can give a painful bite. (The origin of their nickname "toe biter".) This photo was taken the next day after it died so I wasn't worried about getting bitten. They must be one of the biggest insects we get in Saskatchewan, and this was the biggest one I'd seen.
They live in the water, but they fly around in search of mates or just to disperse. Like moths, they can be attracted to street lights, leading to their other nickname of "electric light bug".
They are strong predators, able to catch and eat prey larger than themselves, including small fish. Their front legs look a bit like a praying mantis and serve the same purpose of grabbing their victims. As "true bugs" (Hemiptera) they inject digestive toxins into their prey and then suck their juices out.
Although they live in water, the adults are air breathing, keeping a bubble of air under their wings, exchanging it for fresh air at the surface using the two tubes you can see at the rear of the abdomen.
It revived in the house, maybe from the warmth. This was a bit of a nuisance because it wouldn't sit still for photographs. That made it impossible to do focus stacking so I stuck to flash and a small aperture for depth of focus. I was a little concerned that it would start flying around, but luckily it didn't. I don't think Shelley would have been impressed to have it loose in the house.
No comments:
Post a Comment