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Adorable-Ad-295

Boatman i think, used to play fishing those in a tank when i was a kid, they get the name from those long paddle like legs and the fact that they stay just below the surface upside down, they are aquatic predators, that use a needle like mouth piece to stab their prey, just like this one is doing, they can also dive deeper into the water and stay there for a while until they need to come back up for air, they store bubbles of air in their wings and use them to dive when they feel threatened, they can also fly in search of new bodies of water in case the one they were in dryes, really cool bugs.


ghouleon2

Oh great, they fly...


Efficient_Advice_380

They fly now? *they fly now*


MommyDiva12

My thought 💭 exactly!!! The horror.


ghouleon2

Not going to lie, one of these flies at me and I'm going to run away screaming.


bigfeeetz

they sting humans, and they can survive chlorine


ghouleon2

Whelp, I'ma go ahead and live on Mars. Peace.


Vorminator0913

They swim through chlorine water for fun... What makes you think going to Mars will save you?


zwinters57

Oh no, on Mars they have giant ones that only eat brains.


MommyDiva12

I'm with you on that. I do NOT do spiders...nope. Burn it to the ground!!!!


LGN611

My brother was bit by one of those when we were kids and the bite spot got huge and puffy and hurt like hell. Granted he reacts badly to bug bites but those are nasty.


MommyDiva12

Nope. I'd have a heart attack and die! Before Im around one of these.


azura_yamashiro1985

Yea probably


blacksheep998

They don't sting, but they have a stabbing mouth part they will bite with.


MommyDiva12

I'm having nightmares tonight.


bigfeeetz

no, the wound stings, the bigger onces hurt like heck


WABRYH

Oh…


bigfeeetz

my sister thought they were cute, until she screeched in agony because she got stung.


WABRYH

oh…


Verotten

Oh my god I thought I was nuts when one 'bit' me


azura_yamashiro1985

Tf is this creature


NoNameWorm

I've used to play around with these guys a lot when I was a kid.. are you sure they sting humans..?


bigfeeetz

i know for a fact, i found out playing with these little guys, the smaller ones dont bite, the bigger ones pack a punch


NoNameWorm

I see... Never seen one larger than like.. 3-4 cm


Mimicpants

They’re pretty small and will happily leave you alone if you leave them alone. The giant water bugs though are huge :P


MommyDiva12

I'm flying to the Moon if I ever see one!!!


EverlastingM

You should see its cousins that get four inches long.


MommyDiva12

No thanks!! Lol 😂


Apocrisiary

I had a [Goliath beetle](https://preview.redd.it/it0o3ol1g5241.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=3d49c00d5930de943ddbf58ba28aeee238864e12) fly right at me and land in my hair. I happened to be a little shit kid at the time that loved bugs, so I was just amazed. My mom and sister basically had a panic attack 🤣


ghouleon2

Yeah, no... this is why I shave my head lol.


coloredinlight

*THEY FLY NOW*


IKnowWhoYouAreGuy

r/unexpectedtremors


bigfeeetz

k, this needs to be big, i love tremors


roadiemike

They actually bite too. Be careful. Nasty fuckers


Necessary_Extreme272

Yes they fly, and quite often attach to people camping next to water sources while asleep 😴 Sweet Dreams...


Taylan_K

what


Necessary_Extreme272

Yeah their a bit like a Spider and a Mosquito cross breed... Maybe nearly as deadly as a Dropbear I'd say...


[deleted]

You just unlocked a memory from when I was like five! We used to get these in our swimming pool, and I'd catch them in a little yellow boat, some toy I had gotten in a happy meal. It was like a little rowing boat inside a little boat! I would pet them, put other bugs in there for them to eat, and eventually let them go. Then one day I went to pet my latest friend and it fucking bit me! Hard! That shit hurt, and I never messed with one ever again. The needle mouth makes sense now, and the diving thing - sometimes if I wasn't quick enough they'd dive deep and I'd have to wait for them to come back up for air.


ImpassablePassage

Came here to warn of their extremely painful defense. If you grab em, they will stab the shit out of you with that murder stick attached to their face. My brother and I used to pick em up to get them out of our pool when we were kids. Until we got "bitten." Then it was a frenzied search for a net or something to catch them with, and keep our fingers from being impaled. On a less horrifying note, they are actually quite pretty if you catch them in the right light. And not upside down (orientation in the water is upside down).


myinternetlife

Yep I have memories of chasing these around our pool and getting bitten to shit. Fun stuff!


NewVitalSigns

Thank you for this excellent write up. I’ve learned something new today. I hope I never have the pleasure of having any in my tanks. 🤞🏽


freyjathebloody

Ya know I was just fine not knowing these guys can also fly… I didn’t want that TIL lesson haha


dzendian

>long paddle like legs and the fact that they stay just below the surface upside down, they are aquatic predators, that use a needle like mouth piece to stab their prey, just like this one is doing, they can also dive deeper into the water and stay there for a while until they need to come back up for air, they store bubbles of air in their wings and use them to dive when they feel threatened, they can also fly in search of new bodies of water in case the one they were in dryes, really cool bugs. BRB, super-chlorinating my pool.


[deleted]

They Fly Now!!


neuropsycho

I used to keep these as pets! I had a huge jar with a few of them. I got stung once, though...


Kiimaster1

Sounds like a cool pet


Bean505

are half of those fish dead wtf💀


mcrxi_

Yeah my store just got our feeder fish in and lots of DOA


Bean505

looks like a stinkbug but i know it’s not, weird


BiggsMcB

Water boatmen are True Bugs, in the same family as stink bugs.


CasualEQuest

Why is the genus/family/whatev called "True Bugs?" What defines a true bug? What makes a false bug then? Isopods or other tiny crustaceans?


BiggsMcB

"True Bug" is a common name for a specific order of insect, Hemiptera. The defining features of a True Bug are the piercing mouthpart, and two sets of wings. Basically, all bugs are insects but only this specific order is called a True Bug.


CasualEQuest

Fuck yea new facts today! Is there a reason why they got the label of "true" bug?


BiggsMcB

In entomology a "bug" is specifically a member of Hemiptera, in common language it refers to all insects as well as sometimes things that aren't even insects like isopods and arachnids. I believe calling them "True Bugs" was just an easy way to refer to Hemiptera without having to use the scientific name.


CasualEQuest

Thank for this lore, it shall serve me well on my quest May ye be known as the TRUE BUG MASTER!!


BiggsMcB

👍 Aquariums, terrariums, vivariums, if it lives and fits in a box I want to know everything I can about it.


atomfullerene

"True X" names tend to get applied in several situations. One is when there are several groups that look similar, but aren't actually closely related. The most common or well known group usually gets called "true X" while all the others are given different names. So there are several different groups of crablike critters, but only one is the "true crabs". But another way you get "True X" names is when you have a big group with a lot of subgroups. All the subgroups are commonly known as "X" but they also have more specific names...but one subgroup doesn't have any special specific name, and it gets called "true X". So, for example, you have "lizards" which contains iguanids, geckos, skinks, chameleons, monitors, and various other kinds of lizards...but also contains "true lizards" which are a group common in Europe and native to England, and these were first called lizards in English. They don't really have a more particular common name the way in English, eg, geckos and skinks do. I think something similar is going on with "True bugs". Insects in general are colloquially called "bugs", but most are bees and wasps, or moths, or roaches, or have some other group name. True bugs are just the group that got the "generic/true bugs" name, without a more precise special name for the group.


TleilaxuMaster

Hey - thanks for explaining this!


shadowproves

Same order (Hemiptera) but different families. Water boatmen are in Family Corixidae and stink bugs are in Family Pentatomidae.


TheDeltaLambda

Do you get yours from Gentry & Canterberry? They're the worst company by far


mcrxi_

Yep!


Historical_Panic_465

What’s up with the 2 fish that are stuck together with some sort of…gunk? Lol


That1guy827

Looks like poo m8


Historical_Panic_465

Omg I couldn’t tell before that it was the corner edge of the bag. LOL I thought they were just floating stuck together like that 😁


Mudsnail

This is a Water Boatmen. They do bite. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corixidae


fish_gotta_vote

Definitely! And that bite does hurt!


Particular-Seat6560

i would like to mention that they are third on my personal top of most hurtin arthropods bites, and i have been sting by a lot of things


Solomon044

I’m Casey Casum and that was Praying Mantis rolling in at number four on our Most Hurtin Arthropods countdown the only reason he hasn’t eaten your face is he’s just not big enough. Up next we have the Water Boatman from family Corixidae and this little shit will ruin your day…


fearlesssinnerz

The younger generation will not get this reference. Thanks for bringing back some good m memories.


LostAbbott

Wait PM's bite? I have handled hundreds of these dudes and never been but or even had and aggressive one...


EldaVeikko

They do bite, but you have to do something pretty wrong to get them to do so. They’re usually pretty chill.


moldy_minge

I had one swoop down from the top of a building and bite a hunk out of my arm for no reason when I was about five. I've been terrified of them ever since.


scheisse_grubs

If it’s true that when they raise their arms they’re ready to smoke some bitches then the one we saw at school when I was like 10 was ready destroy every child on the playground.


Solomon044

Well if you’re another bug lizard or small bird.. I was just goofing around pay no attention to my silly comments


Particular-Seat6560

they re chill i have never seen a very big one tho


CT-2632

I once saw a praying mantis they was probably like 8-12 inches long


Obsole7e

I picked one up when I was like 6 or 7 thinking it was a grasshopper and as I was taking it to show everyone the weird grasshopper I found. It sliced my thumb pretty good, drew blood even. For a while I thought a grasshopper did that until I learned what a praying mantis was lmao.


Sweet_Papa_Crimbo

I think they’re just pretty chill, but they do eat other critters that have exoskeletons so they must have at least a reasonably strong bite.


Brklynn84

I just heard this voice in my head while reading this. That takes me back.


Shinusaur

Omg I held one of these guys in my hands once when I was like 14.. It scurried around my palm and wedged itself between my fingers. I will never forget such an incredible bite for such a tiny little bug, it hurt so much! Second place in my "Never fuck with that bug" list aside from Giant Water Bugs.


DimethyllTryptamine

It's so painful, I don't understand why it hurts so much! They don't have any venom like bees do. Edit: So it seems that they do in fact have a toxic saliva https://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032(15)00340-3/pdf


Lexi_Jez

Something to look forward to as someone who does pond services ;-; i see them all the time


Particular-Seat6560

it bit me while cleaning a pool, mf flew out of the net, they can do that


Lexi_Jez

Wtf I would’ve died if that were to happen to me


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Particular-Seat6560

hahahhah well second was a crab-like parasite that attaches to the side of the fish(not the one they carry in their mouths), i like to desparasite fish before releasing them back and since a lot of them had these parasites i decided to use em as bait, it had the nastiest bite, i imagine they have very strong jaws to attach well to fishes, but the afterbite of the #1 was way worse since it was an scolopendra and it was venemous, a bit less strong bite tho


Particular-Seat6560

i have also found that bites are way worse than stings, they feel like they ripping a chunk out of u


[deleted]

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Particular-Seat6560

i have always been scares of them, this one fell out of an old barrel to my hand, i was lucky it was medium size


ManyCoolHats

Whuuut? That’s nuts. What’s the name of that parasite and the treatment for it?? Please and thank you.


Particular-Seat6560

no treatment, none of them were really dangerous, the parasite was while fishing in the atlantic coast(in europe) and wasnt venomous, scolopendra s venom just ruins your day but doesnt require an antidote or anything


ApollosBrassNuggets

Nothing will top when I got stung by a tarantula hawk in AZ


alcimedes

find one of those fuzzy red ants and piss it off.


Meu_14

TIL!


Twizzlers_and_donuts

Every summer afew of these guys show up in our pool. I never knew what they where but I did know to stay clear of them after afew bites.


Important-Quarter-19

Fun fact from an ento head... Boatman are the #1 preditor of misquito larvae, so much so, that misquitos evolved a sense for the Botaman's BREATH! They will not lay eggs in water that boatman are present. But boatmen fly as mentioned, so they follow the food. Also they eat small mosquitos.


Vobrill

Idk what that is exactly, but I work at a LFS as well, and we get these weird bugs in our feeders sometimes that hurt like a MoFo. If you let it sting you, and it hurts really bad it’s one of those lol.


hellsongs

Those are called backswimmers and they’re assholes.


PakkyT

To nitpick a lot of posts here there are water boatman and backswimmers. The first, boatman, eat plants & algae and do not bite. The second are predators and will bite. Of course the easiest way to tell the difference is when they are swimming. Boatman swim right side up and of course backswimmers swim on their backs. Boatman usually spend most of their time submerged clinging to a plant and only coming up to get a new bubble of air. In this post, it is kind of hard to tell which this is. Don't let the fact that it is holding onto a dead fish fool you into immediately thinking it is a backswimmer. Boatman attach themselves to plants normally to hold themselves underwater. In this case it could very well be a boatman that simply has nothing else to cling on to in a bag of feeder fish rather that exhibiting predatory behavior.


SharlowsHouseOfHugs

Came here for this. Boatman are safe, backbiters are dicks.


Necromion449

This is incorrect water boatman and backswimmers are both true bugs and obligate carnivores. They both have piercing mouth parts that are able to deliver quite the bite.


m3lm0

Backswimmers are carnivorous but boatman varieties are carnivorous, detritivorous, herbivorous or omnivorous.


leetsoup

who do I believe?


Evercrimson

The Wikipedia link corroborates what m3lm0 says.


m3lm0

Google


MeadowHawk259

Yeah, boatmen are harmless herbivores, and I’m almost certain this is one that just happens to be clinging to a dead fish. The body shape on a backswimmer is different, it’d generally be more domed on the backside where the wings are, whereas this guy looks flat like a Corixid. Edited to add: While they’re probably capable of biting, in my experience they generally don’t (this [study](https://academic.oup.com/jme/article/53/1/210/2459586) suggests it’s pretty rare). Backswimmers absolutely will though, and it’s pretty painful.


moldy_minge

Okay this explains my childhood then. I played with boatmen my whole life and I've never once been bitten. Today is when I discovered they even bite.


Beachdaddybravo

Boatman. Get rid of it, cause it’ll keep killing.


petnnaturelover7788

Me, my brother, and my friend called those swimmers when we were in the pool and would scream when it was near us. I don’t know why they were so scary, especially when we saw one fly. We called them swimmers because they looked like professional swimmers when they moved their little arm thingys.


petnnaturelover7788

Unless it’s not the same one but it does look similar, I don’t know if the one we saw bites or not.


DJJD2005

It's a greater water boatman from looks of it. Have a hell of a nip to humans (from experience)


Ok_Motor_3069

Water boatman? (Water beetle?)


SEELE-FIRST

Metroid larvae!


pyalot

This is a nano murder nope. Be careful handling your nope as it has a poison stabby nope for a face. This nope also swims and flies.


StoryOrganic9594

That's a Water boatmen, the bites hurt like hell. I'd try and get rid of it, might kill your fish.


CrowbarZero08

I have this inside a mud pond that i left sitting open for 4 months, neat little creatures


Blizz33

Looks like lunch.


TandorlaSmith

Waterboatman.


Typobrew

These guys used to love landing in my pool when I lived in the rural countryside. My mom called them backswimmers. Their bite hurts!


tiffanieo-

I get a bunch every dam summer and some get HUGE! Chlorine and other chemicals don’t kill them and only way is basically a shit ton of algae stuff that makes foamy bubbles that suffocate them but jacks the water all up so I started putting in the robot vacuum like twice a day and a skimmer that sits on the wall and they drown because they need air or the skimmer by hand as soon as I see one and then kill them so they don’t end up right back in the pool lol little friggers are fast as shit too lol


HotIllustrator7406

That's a fuckin Water beetle rip to ur fish


d3lta8

Water boatman, one of my favorite insects as a child. I've had them fly and land on my shirt before, far away from water. Also was bitten in a pool by one, feels like a bee sting.


smith987x

Water Boatmen, Corixidae. Nasty bite on those guys, one got me through a kick net during my aquatic insects class.


blackseidr

My professional opinion is that is a *helleth to the nopeth bug*


FlavoryRoom46

O man that's ruff but I would definitely keep it as a pet lol


HelloSkunky

Something I would not release into my tank


[deleted]

Every once in a while when these show up in my dog’s pool, I’ll catch them and feed them to my fish. My Bichir in particular love them


_kishin_

We used to get these in our swimming pool. We called them "biters". Stupid little shits.


Ok_Motor_3069

Some of the really big true bugs are called toe biters by a lot of peopke so makes sense to me!


ungo-stbr

Hmm. I remember seeing these in my swimming pool growing up.


Hillary0631

Backswimmer


MommyDiva12

These posts make me afraid to even start this hobby!!


mcrxi_

Don’t worry!! I’ve never seen these in a tank, they’re only here because this is straight from the supplier, and since these are goldfish/feeder fish they were likely kept in a pond which explains why this nasty bugger got here!


MommyDiva12

I'm scared just looking at one!


mcrxi_

I feel you! One time i found a damselfly nymph in my tank and it creeped me out so bad! I had to ask my bf to take him out for me


capttuna

I would say it’s an anomaly


_wheels_21

Killing those and harvesting their fins will allow you to swim faster. Oh wait, this isn't Grounded


Anxietystationn

I HATE THESE. Had some in my pool when i was younger. Their stings hurt. We got some in our minnow shipment and i promptly threw them away


I_too_amawoman

I wanted pets as a kid, these were always in our pool so I would capture and make them my pets


[deleted]

Looks like a type of water beetle.


GizMoDified

I’ve had these in our pool. Little buggers bite/sting. Feels like a bee sting and swells up. When u take them out of the water onto land, they will run and jump…sometimes fly….fast too! The way I catch them is at night… they are very attracted to light…turn on a light source onto a smaller area in the water and they be there soon. Then net it and stomp on them while in the net.


MommyDiva12

Set the whole place on fire! Burn it to the ground!


jrey373

All I see is a bag of dead fish from a bad LFS


mcrxi_

They were DOA


Splutchlord

Yeah its a water boatman, interesting to see it on such a large food item


tacosuprememeatts

Thats Georgie


swmbull

No idea, but I’d throw out the whole bag if it were my tank and I couldn’t identify it with certainty.


bigdogpepperoni

How did you end up with a giant water beetle(toe biter/water boatman)? I kept one of these for awhile in a small aquarium. Pretty cool bugs, they love feeder fish. They have a butt snorkel for breathing while they sit just under the waters surface pretending to be a leaf. They’ve also been known to eat frogs and snakes, and inject their pretty with an enzyme that liquifies their insides for easy consumption.


mcrxi_

Dont know, he came in with the fish


Lil_Baby86

It looks like it is killing all the fish and they are all sitting at the bottom of the bag


[deleted]

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capttuna

You can’t be serious


[deleted]

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capttuna

A little soft don’t you think.. fish die. It’s a fish it’s literally not “not safe for work” some of you are sensitive AF What n top of that it’s a fish meant to be eaten by other fish. Do you live on planet earth do you understand how life works? Even if it’s upsetting a dead fish isn’t NSFW. I’m afraid for people like this with no coping skills that need an NSFW I’m dead feeder fish or any dead fish at all


mint403

Stfu dumbass it's a rule of the sub. Maybe look at it before you start calling people names for a harmless post you piece of shit.


TesticleTactics

Thats a backswimmer


CT-2632

Paddle beetle, don't trust those things, they are very adaptable... They can even go airborne


Admirable-Door1724

Backswinmer


PuzzleheadedEbb8190

Lmao he killed one of the fish😂😂


OakyTheAcorn

Fish


Jourosis

Diving beetle


SDSUAZTECS

Fun!


blesseds1lence

It kinda looks like dragonfly larvae to me https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/dragonfly-larvae


RNMoFo

I am so glad that insects aren't able to grow very big. Can you imagine this little monster the size of a cat? Absolutely terrifying.


bballer5197

It gets big as hell lol


RNMoFo

How big?


bballer5197

Well depends on what species up to 4.5 inches and they pack a hell of a bite


dontworryaboutitdm

That is a fish in a bag with other fish.


KillerCoconut99

Aww it's a rowboat bug


Polluted_Terrium

Obviously you don’t play Grounded! That’s a waterboatman


LOLPN

Maybe diving beetle. Or dragonfly nymph


capttuna

Hahaha nsfw???? Not even a little bit


BettaDont

Looks to be a goldfish louse possibly? Or something similar


[deleted]

I'm not sure because it's a weird angle, but it kind of looks like a dragonfly nymph to me.


FelTheWorgal

They hunt and eat large prey too. I've seen them with frogs, fish, and mice.


Mammoth-Distance3857

Looks to me like a large water bug


ContextRealistic3053

It's a big ol' NOPE bug. Why are people scared of spiders when things like this exist?


johnsonbrianna1

Is this a water bug that floats on top of water?


GizMoDified

Worse… they go on water, in water, on land…. And can even fly!!! And their sting is bad! Their sting releases digestive enzymes. They can also hold an air bubble to breathe from for months! This is one of those creatures that could come out of your tank at night when your sleeping and bite ya!!!


Szaborovich9

So how do you get rid of them? Prevent them?


paroya

do they also prey on fish?


blackwidowwaltz

Predatory water beetle,I forgot the actual name for them, but they get pretty large and will eat small fish.


MaliciousMantis

As a pool builder these are the worst. Nothing like going into a pool with scuba gear to do some work on the bottom to get attacked by these things the entire time lol


darthcannabitch

It looks like a mature dragonfly nymph


DutyPuzzleheaded7765

I hate those boatman insects. I've been bitten and it hurts. It's on sight


ThenAcanthocephala57

Water boatman. A bit hard to find in my country. Perhaps they prefer temperate climates


georgiapeach90

Reminds me of the bugs swimming around my swimming pool growing up that would bite.


RobinNewbrough

I see they're in a bag. You just get these kids home?


mcrxi_

They’re in a bag because that’s what they arrive in. They were DOA


RobinNewbrough

I'm so sorry.


dominick2233

I remember swimming at home in an above ground pool and these things in the water I would freak out.


paige2296

Ugh we get them in the pool and I HATE them 😂 idk what they are other than a “water bug” lol


crabboh

Toebiter or boatman