''Abedus immaculatus'' is a species of water bug in the family Belostomatidae. It is the only ''Abedus'' species found in the eastern United States, occurring throughout

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

north into Georgia and west along the Gulf Coast to

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. Adults reach lengths of 13-14 mm, making them the smallest species in the genus ''Abedus'', the smallest belostomatid in the United States, and the only species in the subgenus ''Microabedus''. It is locally common in parts of the Everglades, where it is associated with shorter hydroperiod sites. ''Abedus immaculatus'' was originally described by

Thomas Say Thomas Say (June 27, 1787 – October 10, 1834) was an American entomologist, conchologist, and Herpetology, herpetologist. His studies of insects and shells, numerous contributions to scientific journals, and scientific expeditions to Florida, Ge ...

in 1832 as ''Belostoma fluminea'' var. ''immaculata'', redescribed as ''A. cantralli'' in 1950, with the two names synonymized to ''A. immaculatus'' in 1950.

References

Belostomatidae Insects described in 1832 Taxa named by Thomas Say {{Nepomorpha-stub Hemiptera of North America