''Appasus'' is a genus of
giant water bug
Belostomatidae is a family of freshwater hemipteran insects known as giant water bugs or colloquially as toe-biters, Indian toe-biters, electric-light bugs, alligator ticks, or alligator fleas (in Florida). They are the largest insects in the ord ...
s (family Belostomatidae) found in freshwater habitats in Asia and Africa.
Giant water bugs exhibit male
parental care
Parental care is a behavioural and evolutionary strategy adopted by some animals, involving a parental investment being made to the evolutionary fitness of offspring. Patterns of parental care are widespread and highly diverse across the animal ki ...
. In ''Appasus'' and other species in the subfamily Belostomatinae (but not subfamily Lethocerinae), the female glues the eggs onto the male's back, and the male tends them until the eggs hatch.
Species
Partial list of species:
*''
Appasus ampliatus''
(Montandon, 1914)
*''
Appasus capensis''
(Mayr, 1843)
*''
Appasus grassei''
(Poisson, 1937)
*''
Appasus japonicus''
(Vuillefroy, 1864)
*''
Appasus major''
(Esaki, 1934)
*''
Appasus quadrivittatus''
Bergroth, 1893
*''
Appasus stappersi''
(Montandon, 1916)
References
External links
image
Belostomatidae
Nepomorpha genera
Taxa named by Charles Jean-Baptiste Amyot
Taxa named by Jean Guillaume Audinet-Serville
{{Nepomorpha-stub