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Unknown Beetle

Posted by Hattie Geist,
North Country explorer from Finland, Minnesota
November 1, 2015 —

The other day as we were walking home, my friend and I saw this huge beetle. It was in the middle of the path and was moving very slowly. Does anyone know what kind of beetle this is?

Comments

Justin Dalaba

Nice find! These are often called Giant Water Bugs (from the family Belostomatidae). They're actually an aquatic insect that spend most of their time underwater, but I've read that they fly to migrate from smaller to larger bodies of water when it gets colder. This is the reason we sometimes find them exhausted on the ground this time of year.

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Erika Barthelmess

And I'm under the impression that they migrate to nearby woodlands in the fall where they hibernate beneath the leaf litter, returning to the water in the spring.

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