rekordy: Abedus

Evidence: 45 • authority: 72

Abedus is a genus of giant water bugs (family Belostomatidae) found in freshwater habitats in southern United States, Mexico and Central America. Sometimes called ferocious water bugs, these brown insects typically are between 2.3 and 4 cm (0.9–1.6 in) long, although A. immaculatus only is about 1.3–1.4 cm (0.51–0.55 in), making it the smallest North American belostomatid and possibly worthy of separation in its own genus. Otherwise the different Abedus species are very similar and can often only be separated with a microscope. They will bite in self-defense, which is painful but not dangerous.

Evidence: 42 • authority: 72

Abedus immaculatus is a species of water bug in the family Belostomatidae. It is the only Abedus species found in the eastern United States, occurring throughout Florida north into Georgia and west along the Gulf Coast to Mississippi. Adults reach lengths of 13–14 mm, making them the smallest species in the genus Abedus, the smallest belostomatid in the United States, and the only species in the subgenus Microabedus. It is locally common in parts of the Everglades, where it is associated with shorter hydroperiod sites. Abedus immaculatus was originally described by Thomas Say in 1832 as Belostoma fluminea var. immaculata, redescribed as A. cantralli in 1950, with the two names synonymized t…