Belostomatidae - Giant Water Bugs or Electric Light Bugs

Five species in three genera are recorded from Michigan.

Benacus Stål, 1861 (Subfamily Lethocerinae)

Benacus griseus (Say), 1832 Belostoma
  • Belostoma haldemanum Leidy, 1847
  • Belostoma harpax Stål, 1855
  • Belostoma angustatum Guérin, 1856
  • Belostoma distinctum Dufour, 1862

Belostoma Latreille 1807 (Subfamily Belostomatinae)

Belostoma flumineum Say, 1832
   • Perthostoma auranticum Leidy, 1847
   • Zaitha fluminea Dufour, 1847
   • Zaitha fusciventris Townsend, 1863
   • Belostoma bakeri Ellis, 1952
Belostoma lutarium (Stål) 1855, Zaitha
   • Zaitha aurantiaca Uhler, 1886
   • Belostoma aurantiacum Torre-Bueno and Brimley, 1907

Lethocerus Mayr, 1853 (Subfamily Lethocerinae)

Lethocerus (Lethocerus) americanus (Leidy), 1847 Belostoma
  • Belostoma grandis var. americanum Leidy, 1847
  • Belostoma impressum Haldeman, 1854
  • Belostoma griseum Stål, 1861, and Mayr 1871
  • Belostoma litigiosum Dufour, 1863
  • Belostoma obscurum Dufour, 1863
  • Belostoma americanum Snow, 1906
  • Benacus griseum Howard, 1907
  • Lethocerus obscurus Torre-Bueno, 1908
Lethocerus (Lethocerus) uhleri (Montandon), 1896 Belostoma
  • Amorgius (Montandonista) uhleri Torre-Bueno and Brimley, 1907
  • Amorgius uhleri Van Duzee, 1909

References

Perez Goodwyn PJ. 2006. Taxonomic revision of the subfamily Lethocerinae Lauck & Menke (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae). Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde Serie A (Biologie) 695:1-71.
Lauck DR. 1964. A monograph of the genus Belostoma (Hemiptera). Part III. B. Triangulum, bergi, minor, bifoveolatum and flumineum groups. The Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Sciences 11(5):102-154.
Menke AS. 1963. A review of the genus Lethocerus in North and Central America, including the West Indies (Hemiptera: Belostomatidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 56:261-267.
Polhemus JT, Polhemus DA, Henry TJ. 1988. Family Belostomatidae Leach, 1815. The Giant Water Bugs or Electric Light Bugs, pp. 47-55 in Henry TJ, Froeschner RC. (eds.). 1988. Catalog of the Heteroptera, or True Bugs, of Canada and the Continental United States. E. J. Brill: Leiden.  958 + xix.

Page created: October 31, 2002 - Last updated: January 2, 2007 (EB)