GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — One of the cool things about doing weather from the great outdoors is that unexpected visitors drop in from time to time to hang with KARE 11's weather crews.
So was the case Wednesday morning, when Guy Brown encountered a very large insect that threw him for a bit of a loop. Photojournalist Nate Anderson estimated the bug was three inches long (a significant exaggeration, as it turns out) but the doggone thing was big.
Guy's new buddy was soon identified by KARE Digital Producer Diane Sandberg as a Giant Water Bug. The Minnesota Pollution Control website shares some little known facts about the creature.
- Scientific name: lethocerus americanus
- The biggest bug in Minnesota at a full 2-inches long and about 1-inch wide.
- Common in ponds and lakes, and less common in rivers. Tend to hang out in the vegetation on the fringes of lakes and wetlands.
- A predator: Catch organisms with their large, powerful, front legs, inject prey with a toxin to immobilize and/or kill it, then suck the juices out.
- Giant Water Bugs swim very fast, so you probably won't ever see one in the water. But if you happen to get a hold of a live one, be VERY CAREFUL to keep your fingers away from its piercing mouth part or "beak," as it can inflict a very painful bite.
Good thing Guy didn't know that last factoid... we might never get him out in the backyard again.