---
title: "American Giant Water Bug"
description: "Lethocerus americanus — Insetti e ragni. Lethocerus americanus, sometimes called the electric light bug, toe biter or fish killer, is a giant water bug in the family Belostomatidae, native to southern Canada and the United States (north of 35°N; other Lethocerus species are found southwards)."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/american-giant-water-bug
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# American Giant Water Bug

> Lethocerus americanus — Insetti e ragni. Lethocerus americanus, sometimes called the electric light bug, toe biter or fish killer, is a giant water bug in the family Belostomatidae, native to southern Canada and the United States (north of 35°N; other Lethocerus species are found southwards).

- Scientific name: *Lethocerus americanus*
- Category: `insects` (Insetti e ragni)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Laghi e fiumi)
- iNaturalist observations: 8877
- Wikidata: [Q3236905](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3236905)
- iNaturalist taxon: [81572](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/81572)

## Names

- en: American Giant Water Bug
- fr: Léthocère d'Amérique

## Countries with the most observations

US (4252), CA (4156)

## Summary

Lethocerus americanus, sometimes called the electric light bug, toe biter or fish killer, is a giant water bug in the family Belostomatidae, native to southern Canada and the United States (north of 35°N; other Lethocerus species are found southwards). It typically has a length around 5–6 cm (2.0–2.4 in). It was originally classified as a species in the genus Belostoma.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethocerus_americanus

## Photo

![American Giant Water Bug](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/american-giant-water-bug/medium.jpg)

Photo: Sara L Giles · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/123907701

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/american-giant-water-bug?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).