Belostoma

Belostoma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Suborder: Heteroptera
Family: Belostomatidae
Tribe: Belostomatini
Genus: Belostoma
Latreille, 1807

Belostoma is a genus of insects in the hemipteran family Belostomatidae, known colloquially as giant water bugs. Members of this genus are native to freshwater habitats in the Americas, with the greatest species richness in tropical South America.[1] Most species in the family Belostomatidae have historically been included in Belostoma, but several of these have been moved to other genera (although Belostoma remains a genus with many members).[1][2] 9 species are claimed to be found in Northern America, but the genus Belostoma is actually divided into 16 subgroups containing about 70 species.[3][4]

  1. ^ a b Ribero, J. R. I. (2007). A review of the species of Belostoma Latreille, 1807 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Belostomatidae) from the four southeastern Brazilian states. Zootaxa 1477: 1-70.
  2. ^ Perez-Goodwyn, P. J. (2006). Taxonomic revision of the subfamily Lethocerinae Lauck & Menke (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae)". Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde. Serie A (Biologie) 695: 1–71.
  3. ^ The semiaquatic and aquatic Hemiptera of California, Menke, Arnold S. (editor). 1979. Bulletin of the California Insect Survey, University of California Press, xi + 166 pp.
  4. ^ Stefanello et al., Revision of the Belostoma triangulum group (Insecta: Heteroptera: Belostomatidae), Zootaxa, Vol. 4958 No. 1: 14 Apr. 2021/ doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4958.1.8