Giant water bug
English
Lethocerus americanus
The giant water bug is the largest aquatic insect in Quebec. Its flat, hydrodynamic body and the long hairs on its middle and back legs make it a fast and efficient swimmer. It has large compound eyes on its head. It eats using piercing-sucking mouthpieces that form a sort of short, pointed beak, called a rostrum, under its head. It has a short respiratory tube at the end of its abdomen that consists of two flexible, retractable parts that can move back and forth.