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Sticker of Indo-East Mediterranean giant water bug
Bug card No. 2357 of 4,939

Indo-East Mediterranean giant water bug

Lethocerus patruelis
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsTrue bugs and cicadasPonds, rivers and shores6 legs

This giant water bug is the biggest true bug and the biggest water insect in Europe. It is flat and brown or green, so it hides well among water plants. It waits very still and then grabs its prey with its strong front legs.

Lives in
From southeastern Europe through Southwest Asia to Pakistan, India and Myanmar, in ponds and lakes
Length
6 to 8 cm (2.4 to 3.1 in)
females are a bit bigger than males
Top speed
about 4.6 km/h (2.9 mph)
Swimming, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Can bite

Watch out! Read about its close cousin on Venom Wiki →

What does it eat?
It eats water insects, tadpoles and small fish. It squirts a special spit into its prey and then sucks up the soft insides.
For real!Photo of Indo-East Mediterranean giant water bug
Picture by XenoVon. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Indo-East Mediterranean giant water bug about 8 cm long (3.1 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)
as long as 2.5 toy building bricks in a rowcould swim the length of a bathtub in 1.6 seconds

How big is Indo-East Mediterranean giant water bug compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Females are about 7 to 8 centimetres long, as long as a grown-up's finger.

2

It breathes through two little tubes at the end of its body, which it pokes up to the water surface.

3

It has wings under its wing covers and can fly to a new pond if its old one dries up.

4

Its babies look like small copies of the grown-ups and just get bigger as they grow.

5

It is slowly moving further north in the Balkans as the weather gets warmer.

you asked

Most asked questions about Indo-East Mediterranean giant water bug

?How big is the giant water bug?

It is about 6 to 8 centimetres long. It is the biggest water insect in Europe.

?What does a giant water bug eat?

Water insects, tadpoles and small fish that it catches with its front legs.

?Can a giant water bug fly?

Yes. It has wings and can fly from one pond to another.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Lethocerus patruelis
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Belostomatidae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Belostomatidae
Lives on
Europe, Asia

Where the facts come from

  1. Lethocerus patruelis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by XenoVon. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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