A giant water bug was found this morning thin the FMS school yard. This created an instant investigation in science. Here are some things we found out this morning.
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FOUND: Giant Waterbug on FMS Parking Lot
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Science 6 at FMS 
life span is 1 year and plus.The Giant Water Bug is one of the largest insects in the U.S. and Canada.
It has piercing, sucking mouth parts, a short, pointed beak underneath it’s the head (pincers)
http://www.eduwebs.org/bugs/giant_water_bug.htm
The giant water bug has wings.
We found on this website that it is eaten as a delicacy and sometimes found in Chinese markets. Also we found that they also have snorkel-like breathing tubes at the end of their abdomen.
I found out that it commonly lives in ponds and streams.
This is where it has been seen in North America: http://bugguide.net/node/view/13708/data
Kyle and I (Perrin) found a really good website on this species. We found that the Giant Water Bug can give one a nasty bite. One person described the bite as very painful, causing the finger and whole hand to swell up dramatically, to the point where they lost all use of the hand, and remaining thus for about two weeks. And we also found that it can grow to 1.5 inches to 4 inches long. We also found that the Adult giant water bugs capture larger prey species by using their clawed front feet and chemicals which are injected into the body of the prey. The enzymes turn the prey’s insides into liquid, which the giant water bug can suck up. This bug as a larvae eats small, aquatic invertebrates. They also hunt vertebrates such as tadpoles, salamanders and small fish.
This is the taxonomy: (we got this from http://bugguide.net/node/view/13708)
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)
Infraorder Nepomorpha (Aquatic Bugs)
Family Belostomatidae (Giant Water Bugs)
Genus Lethocerus
Species americanus (Giant Water Bug)
This species in found in: (http://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Giant-Water-Bug)
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Good link: http://www.godofinsects.com/index.php/museum/true-bugs-cicadas-lanternflies-and-leafhoppers/lethocerus-americanus/
Its preferred habitat is ponds and shallow margins of lakes containing submerged or emergent vegetation
Lethocerus americanus are predatory. It feeds on everything aquatic that it can grasp and hold with its powerful forelegs. Insects, tadpoles, salamander, small fish, and snails are on the menu.
I found out this from a web site that someone already used, but… http://bugguide.net/node/view/13708
Classification:
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)
Infraorder Nepomorpha (Aquatic Bugs)
Family Belostomatidae (Giant Water Bugs)
Genus Lethocerus
Species americanus (Giant Water Bug)
It is also called the Electric Light Bug, Toe Biter, Fish Killer http://bugguide.net/node/view/13708.
http://www.mister-toad.com/photos/inverts/Lethocerus_eating_frog_01.html picture of it eating a small frog gross!!!
Season
spring through fall
Food
nymphs and adults eat aquatic arthropods, snails, small fish, and amphibians
Life Cycle
During spring and early summer, eggs are laid near or in water attached to aquatic plants, stones, leaves or rotting branches. The eggs are brownish-gray, 4-5 mm long, laid in rows. Usually 100 are found in each group, hatching in about 2 weeks. The nymphs look similar to adults but lack wings and are much smaller; they molt 5 times.
Overwinters as an adult in mud at bottom of pond or lake margin.
Hello, this comment one can be kept.I found a good site on witch I found that the water bug female lays its eggs on the water bug male’s back, this is the link. http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2010/hui_ka/reproduction.html
The Giant water Bug is found in North America including Newfoundland to British
Columbia, Nevada, Flordia and Mexico.
Remarks: May bite if handled. Adults are attracted to light and are sometimes found on the ground under streetlights. Identification: anterior margin of eye is bulging, posterior margin of eye is perpendicular to body axis, and eye is almost spherical; outer margin of hind tibia almost straight; width of first hind tarsal segment less than or equal to least interocular distance; anterior margin of fore femur grooved