I took a look through some of my photos in hopes of finding some that show a little more beak detail. Hopefully these extra shots give a bit more insight into the anatomy of a giant water bug.
I have come across this insect three times in the last two years. The first time was on my back deck. At that time I had only read about them and seen pictures in books, but when I saw it on my railing I had a pretty good idea of what it was. I carefully took some photos - even moved it around a bit with a pencil to try and get a better shot. My second encounter was with one that was swimming with me in my pool while I was vacuuming it. In my panic to get out, I dumped the vacuum and jumped out of the pool so fast it would have made your head spin. I ended up fishing the water bug out of the pool with a net and flung it over the neighbour's fence (sorry neighbour!) No pictures were taken that day. My last experience was with a dead one that I found on the way home from school. At least I think it was dead. Through my readings I have discovered that these insects can feign death when handled, but can suddenly stab with their peircing beak at a moment's notice. I am pretty sure that is was dead, as it seemed fairly crispy and dry. Perhaps I got lucky. I did manage to get some good close ups of that one, and you should be able to see the rest of its beak folded up underneath it. To get a better look at the photos, you should be able to click on the pictures for an enlarged view.
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| I look better bigger. You should click me..... |
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| Click on picture to make it bigger. |
October 27th Update:
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| Chris Fitzpatrick sent in this photo of a toe-biter he found on its back in a parking lot. Although I wouldn't want to get bit by one, I'm glad to hear that this one lived to see another day. Thanks Chris! |
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