The voracious behaviour of water bugs is well known as they attack a great diversity of invertebrate and vertebrate organisms which may be of various sizes, even larger than they are (Schnack, 1976; Menke, 1979). All of the Belostomatidae family members have forelegs adapted to catch prey which are usually ambushed by bugs. After catching prey, bugs handle it in order to insert their piercing mouth parts to inject saliva and liquefy prey’s tissues to suck.
(Párrafo extraído del texto a modo de resumen)Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Armúa de Reyes, C. A.

Estévez, Ana Lía

Brazilian Journal of Biology

English

Servicio de Difusión de la Creación Intelectual

Braz. J. Biol., 66(4): 1033-1035, 2006Predation on Biomphalaria sp. (Mollusca: Planorbidae)  by three sPecies of the genus Belostoma  (heteroPtera: belostoMatidae)*arMúa de reyes, c. a.1 and estévez, a. l.21facultad de ciencias exactas, físicas y naturales y agrimensura, universidad del nordeste,  9 de julio 1449, 3400-corrientes, argentina2departamento científico de entomología, Museo de ciencias naturales la Plata,  universidad nacional de la Plata, Paseo del bosque, s/n, 1900-la Plata, argentinacorrespondence to: ana lia estéves, departamento científico de entomología, Museo de ciencias naturales la Plata, universidad nacional de la Plata, Paseo del bosque, s/n, 1900-la Plata, argentina, e-mail: estevezanalia@hotmail.comreceived april 27, 2004 – accepted november 25, 2004 – distributed november 1, 2006* this work was developed with a grant from secretaría de ciencia y técnica de la universidad del nordeste, corrientes, argentina.NOTES AND COMMENTSthe voracious behaviour of water bugs is well known as they attack a great diversity of invertebrate and vertebrate organisms which may be of various sizes, even larger than they are (schnack, 1976; Menke, 1979). all of the belostomatidae family members have forelegs adapted to catch prey which are usually ambushed by bugs. after catching prey, bugs handle it in order to insert their piercing mouth parts to inject saliva and liquefy prey’s tissues to suck.the only insects that feed on snails during the larval and adult stages are belostomatids (smith, 1997). Limnogeton Mayr, 1853 is a compulsory predator of snails (voelker, 1968; tawfik et al., 1978). there are few reports on members of genera Abedus stål, 1862 and Diplonychus laporte, 1833 preying on snails in the field or in the laboratory (saha & raut, 1992; tawfik et al., 1978; okada & nakasuji, 1993; smith, 1997). somasundarao (1963), voelker (1968) and saha & raut (1992) suggested the importance of these bugs as useful snails control agents to eradicate severe worm diseases. Pointier & delplanque (1976) pointed out the importance of B. boscii as a B. glabrata predator in guadeloupe and Kesler & Munns (1989) cited B. flumineum as an important cause of snails’ mortality in the u.s.a.little is known about the alimentary prefer-ence of Belostoma species under laboratory condi-tions. several authors fed immature and adult stages of Belostoma species with varied prey for different purposes: Kehr & schnack (1991) fed B. oxyurum dufour 1863 with tadpoles; armúa & estévez (1997) fed immature stages of B. elegans Mayr with mosquito larvae, small crustacean as Daphnia sp. and Hyalella sp., and tadpoles. some species of Belostoma latreille, 1807 have occasionally been observed feeding on snails such as B. malkini (cullen, 1969). Pereira & Melo (1998) fed specimens of B. plebejum and B. anurum under laboratory conditions, with Culex quinquefasciatus, Daphnia sp. and Biomphalaria glabrata and both species fed on all offered prey but they showed preference for mosquito larvae; B. micantulum was fed with larvae and pupae of Aedes fluviatilis and Biomphalaria glabrata, showing preference for mosquitoes in all stages (consoli et al., 1989). Presented herein is an experimental study with Biomphalaria sp. as prey for specimens of the genus Belostoma. the selected species, included in the three size categories proposed by lauck (1962), B. micantulum (small species), B. elegans (medium species) and B. elongatum (moderately large species) show different structural characteristics on their heads. the aim of this work is to compare the ability of each species with snails according to the head morphological features.MATERIAL AND METHODSduring March and april, 1997 specimens of B. micantulum, B. elegans, B. elongatum, together with snails of the genus Biomphalaria were captured with a net in a pond close to santa ana, corrientes province, argentina.ten specimens of the selected Belostoma species were put into individual vials with tap 1034 arMúa de reyes, c. a. and estévez, a. l.Braz. J. Biol., 66(4): 1033-1035, 2006water and Elodea sp. as a substrate at a laboratory. after two days with no food supply, two snails were offered to each bug as the unique food source. snails were selected by their size, small snails (2 mm in diameter) were offered to B. micantulum; medium size (3-5 mm) to B. elegans and those of a large size (6 mm or more) to B. elongatum.they were observed every 24 h over 5 days in order to replace the eaten snails (emptied shells) by a new stock of snails. this procedure was replicated 6 times. Belostoma specimens and snails were replaced by recently captured specimens when each experiment started. the results are shown as a percentage of eaten snails and a percentage of bugs which ate snails.RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONB. micantulum used snails as resting support most of the time, piercing shells on all its surface; there were one or two ingested snails in 4 experiments representing 6% of the total offered snails (n = 120); 85% of the bugs did not feed on snails.the B. elegans behavior was similar to B. micantulum; empty shells were found in all the experiments, which represented 16% of the total offered snails (n = 124); 71% of the bugs did not feed on snails.B. elongatum showed a different behavior to that of the above mentioned species. When the prey was offered it was instantly seized with its fore legs. bugs of this species handled the snail, aiming to direct the opening of the shell in front of the beak, inserting it immediately into the snail’s body. bugs maintained this position during 45 to 60 min before releasing the empty shell. bugs carrying prey were able to go around inside the vials. snails were eaten in all the experiments, 76% of the offered snails were eaten (n = 193); only 3% of bugs did not eat Biomphalaria sp.small species such as B. micantulum have a short anteoculus and a short and stout beak. this species rejected Biomphalaria sp. diet. this species failed to introduce the stilettos properly into the snail’s shell due to characteristics of the head morphology.Medium size species such as B. elegans showed a certain ability to catch and feed on Biomphalaria sp. Medium sized species heads are characterized by having anteoculus which are slightly longer than their interoculus and a long and slender beak.B. elongatum showed a great ability to catch and feed on snails. this moderately large species has anteoculus longer than interoculus and its beak is long and slender.although few observations on Belostoma species predatory ability on snails have been made, we are able to assume on the basis of literature and this experimental study, that medium and moderately large or large Belostoma species showed a remarkable preference for snails as a food source. these groups of species are successful in preying on snails due to the specialized characteristics of their heads such as the presence of anteoculus which is longer than their interoculus and a slender and long beak, enabling the styletes to be inserted deeper into the shells thus reaching the retracted body of Biomphalaria. the effectiveness of Belostoma species preying on snails needs to be studied in the field in order to know if these insects’ populations may have a controlling effect on snails’ populations.REFERENCESarMúa de reyes, a. c. & estévez, a. l., 1997, observaciones biológicas de los estadíos preimaginales de b. elegans Mayr en condiciones controladas. FACENA, (corrientes), 13: 141-143.consolli, r. a. g. b., Pereira, M. h., Melo, a. l. & Pereira, l. h, 1989, belostoma micantulum stål 1858 (hemiptera: belostomatidae) as a predator of larvae and pupae of Aedes fluviatilis (diptera: culicidae) in laboratory conditions. Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, (rio de Janeiro), 84: 577-578.cullen, M. J., 1969, the biology of giant bugs (hemiptera: belostomatidae) in trinidad. Proceedings of Royal Entomological Society. london (a), 44: 7-9.Kesler, d. h. & Munns Jr., W. r., 1989, Predation by Belostoma flumineum (hemiptera): an important cause of mortality in freshwater snails. J.N. Amer. Benthol. Soc., 8: 342-350.Kher, a. i. & schnacK, J. a., 1991, Predator prey relationship between giant water bugs (Belostoma oxyurum) and larval anurans (Bufo arenarum). Alytes, (Paris), 9: 61-69. laucK, d., 1962, a monograph of the genus belostoma (hemiptera). Part i. introduction and b. dentatum and subspinosum groups. Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Science, 11(3): 34-81MenKe, a. s., 1979, family belostomatidae, pp. 76-86. In: Menke a. s. (editor), the semiaquatic and aquatic 1035Predation on bioMPhalaria by sPecies of belostoMaBraz. J. Biol., 66(4): 1033-1035, 2006hemiptera of california. Bulletin of the California Insect Survey, 21: 1-166.oKada, h. & naKasuJi, f., 1993, comparative studies on the seasonal occurrence, nymphal development and food menu in two giant water bugs Diplonychus japonicus vuillefroy and D. major esaki (hemiptera: belostomatidae). Res. Pop. Ecol., (Kyoto), 35: 15-22.Pereira, M. & Melo, a. l., 1998, influência do tipo de presa no desenvolvimento e na preferência alimentar de Belostoma anurum herrich-schåffer, 1848 e B. plebejum stål, 1858 (heteroptera: belostomatidae). In: J. l. nessimian,  & a. l. carvalho (eds.), Ecologia de Insetos aquaticos. Serie Oecologia Brasiliensis, (rio de Janeiro), v. 41-49.Pointier, J. P. & delPlanQue, a. 1976, les predateurs de Biomphalaria glabrata (say, 1818). Mollusque vecteur de la schistosomose en guadeloupe. Bull. Soc. Sci. Vét. Med. Comp. (lyon), 78: 319-331.saha, t. c. & raut, s. K., 1992, bioecology of the water bug Sphaerodema annulatum fabricius (heteroptera: belostomatidae). Arch. Hydrobiol., 124: 239-253.schnacK, J. a., 1976, insecta hemiptera. belostomatidae. Fauna Argentina de Agua Dulce Rep. Arg., (buenos aires), 35, fasc. 1: 66.sMith, r. l., 1997, evolution of paternal care in the giant water bugs (heteroptera: belostomatidae). In: J. c. choe and b. J. crespi (eds.), Social Behavior in Insects and Arachnids. cambridge, university Press, 16: 149.soMasundarao, g., 1963, a preliminary note on the biological control of freshwater snails by aquatic insects. Indian.Vet. J., (Madras), 40: 50.taWfiK, M. f. s., el-sherif, s. i. & lutfallah, a. f., 1978, on the life history of the giant water bug Limnogeton fieberi Mayr. (hemiptera: belostomatidae), predatory on some harmfull snails. Zool. Anz. (Jena), 86: 138-145.voelKer, J., 1968, untersuchungen zu ernährung, fortpflanzungsbiologie und entwicklung von Limnogeton fieberi Mayr (belostomatidae: hemiptera) als beitrag zur Kenntnis von natürlichen feinden tropischer suβwasserschnecken. Entomol. Mitt. Zool. Staatsinst. Zool. Mus. Hamb., 3: 1-24.-

Predation on Biomphalaria sp. (Mollusca: Planorbidae) by three species of the genus Belostoma (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae)

SEDICI - Repositorio de la UNLP

Braz. J. Biol., 66(4): 1033-1035, 2006
Predation on Biomphalaria sp. (Mollusca: Planorbidae)  
by three sPecies of the genus Belostoma  
(heteroPtera: belostoMatidae)*
arMúa de reyes, c. a.1 and estévez, a. l.2
1facultad de ciencias exactas, físicas y naturales y agrimensura, universidad del nordeste,  
9 de julio 1449, 3400-corrientes, argentina
2departamento científico de entomología, Museo de ciencias naturales la Plata,  
universidad nacional de la Plata, Paseo del bosque, s/n, 1900-la Plata, argentina
correspondence to: ana lia estéves, departamento científico de entomología, Museo de ciencias naturales la Plata, 
universidad nacional de la Plata, Paseo del bosque, s/n, 1900-la Plata, argentina, e-mail: estevezanalia@hotmail.com
received april 27, 2004 – accepted november 25, 2004 – distributed november 1, 2006
* this work was developed with a grant from secretaría de ciencia y técnica de la universidad del nordeste, corrientes, argentina.
NOTES AND COMMENTS
the voracious behaviour of water bugs is 
well known as they attack a great diversity of 
invertebrate and vertebrate organisms which may be 
of various sizes, even larger than they are (schnack, 
1976; Menke, 1979). all of the belostomatidae 
family members have forelegs adapted to catch 
prey which are usually ambushed by bugs. after 
catching prey, bugs handle it in order to insert their 
piercing mouth parts to inject saliva and liquefy 
prey’s tissues to suck.
the only insects that feed on snails during the 
larval and adult stages are belostomatids (smith, 
1997). Limnogeton Mayr, 1853 is a compulsory 
predator of snails (voelker, 1968; tawfik et al., 
1978). there are few reports on members of genera 
Abedus stål, 1862 and Diplonychus laporte, 1833 
preying on snails in the field or in the laboratory 
(saha & raut, 1992; tawfik et al., 1978; okada 
& nakasuji, 1993; smith, 1997). somasundarao 
(1963), voelker (1968) and saha & raut (1992) 
suggested the importance of these bugs as useful 
snails control agents to eradicate severe worm 
diseases. Pointier & delplanque (1976) pointed 
out the importance of B. boscii as a B. glabrata 
predator in guadeloupe and Kesler & Munns 
(1989) cited B. flumineum as an important cause of 
snails’ mortality in the u.s.a.
little is known about the alimentary prefer-
ence of Belostoma species under laboratory condi-
tions. several authors fed immature and adult 
stages of Belostoma species with varied prey for 
different purposes: Kehr & schnack (1991) fed 
B. oxyurum dufour 1863 with tadpoles; armúa & 
estévez (1997) fed immature stages of B. elegans 
Mayr with mosquito larvae, small crustacean 
as Daphnia sp. and Hyalella sp., and tadpoles. 
some species of Belostoma latreille, 1807 have 
occasionally been observed feeding on snails such 
as B. malkini (cullen, 1969). Pereira & Melo (1998) 
fed specimens of B. plebejum and B. anurum under 
laboratory conditions, with Culex quinquefasciatus, 
Daphnia sp. and Biomphalaria glabrata and both 
species fed on all offered prey but they showed 
preference for mosquito larvae; B. micantulum was 
fed with larvae and pupae of Aedes fluviatilis and 
Biomphalaria glabrata, showing preference for 
mosquitoes in all stages (consoli et al., 1989). 
Presented herein is an experimental study 
with Biomphalaria sp. as prey for specimens of the 
genus Belostoma. the selected species, included in 
the three size categories proposed by lauck (1962), 
B. micantulum (small species), B. elegans (medium 
species) and B. elongatum (moderately large 
species) show different structural characteristics on 
their heads. the aim of this work is to compare the 
ability of each species with snails according to the 
head morphological features.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
during March and april, 1997 specimens of 
B. micantulum, B. elegans, B. elongatum, together 
with snails of the genus Biomphalaria were 
captured with a net in a pond close to santa ana, 
corrientes province, argentina.
ten specimens of the selected Belostoma 
species were put into individual vials with tap 
1034 arMúa de reyes, c. a. and estévez, a. l.
Braz. J. Biol., 66(4): 1033-1035, 2006
water and Elodea sp. as a substrate at a laboratory. 
after two days with no food supply, two snails 
were offered to each bug as the unique food source. 
snails were selected by their size, small snails 
(2 mm in diameter) were offered to B. micantulum; 
medium size (3-5 mm) to B. elegans and those of a 
large size (6 mm or more) to B. elongatum.
they were observed every 24 h over 5 days in 
order to replace the eaten snails (emptied shells) by 
a new stock of snails. this procedure was replicated 
6 times. Belostoma specimens and snails were 
replaced by recently captured specimens when 
each experiment started. the results are shown as a 
percentage of eaten snails and a percentage of bugs 
which ate snails.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
B. micantulum used snails as resting 
support most of the time, piercing shells on all its 
surface; there were one or two ingested snails in 
4 experiments representing 6% of the total offered 
snails (n = 120); 85% of the bugs did not feed on 
snails.
the B. elegans behavior was similar to 
B. micantulum; empty shells were found in all the 
experiments, which represented 16% of the total 
offered snails (n = 124); 71% of the bugs did not 
feed on snails.
B. elongatum showed a different behavior to 
that of the above mentioned species. When the prey 
was offered it was instantly seized with its fore legs. 
bugs of this species handled the snail, aiming to 
direct the opening of the shell in front of the beak, 
inserting it immediately into the snail’s body. bugs 
maintained this position during 45 to 60 min before 
releasing the empty shell. bugs carrying prey were 
able to go around inside the vials. snails were eaten 
in all the experiments, 76% of the offered snails 
were eaten (n = 193); only 3% of bugs did not eat 
Biomphalaria sp.
small species such as B. micantulum have 
a short anteoculus and a short and stout beak. 
this species rejected Biomphalaria sp. diet. this 
species failed to introduce the stilettos properly 
into the snail’s shell due to characteristics of the 
head morphology.
Medium size species such as B. elegans 
showed a certain ability to catch and feed on 
Biomphalaria sp. Medium sized species heads 
are characterized by having anteoculus which are 
slightly longer than their interoculus and a long and 
slender beak.
B. elongatum showed a great ability to catch 
and feed on snails. this moderately large species 
has anteoculus longer than interoculus and its beak 
is long and slender.
although few observations on Belostoma 
species predatory ability on snails have been made, 
we are able to assume on the basis of literature 
and this experimental study, that medium and 
moderately large or large Belostoma species showed 
a remarkable preference for snails as a food source. 
these groups of species are successful in preying 
on snails due to the specialized characteristics of 
their heads such as the presence of anteoculus 
which is longer than their interoculus and a slender 
and long beak, enabling the styletes to be inserted 
deeper into the shells thus reaching the retracted 
body of Biomphalaria. the effectiveness of 
Belostoma species preying on snails needs to be 
studied in the field in order to know if these insects’ 
populations may have a controlling effect on snails’ 
populations.
REFERENCES
arMúa de reyes, a. c. & estévez, a. l., 1997, 
observaciones biológicas de los estadíos preimaginales 
de b. elegans Mayr en condiciones controladas. FACENA, 
(corrientes), 13: 141-143.
consolli, r. a. g. b., Pereira, M. h., Melo, a. l. & 
Pereira, l. h, 1989, belostoma micantulum stål 1858 
(hemiptera: belostomatidae) as a predator of larvae and 
pupae of Aedes fluviatilis (diptera: culicidae) in laboratory 
conditions. Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, (rio de 
Janeiro), 84: 577-578.
cullen, M. J., 1969, the biology of giant bugs (hemiptera: 
belostomatidae) in trinidad. Proceedings of Royal 
Entomological Society. london (a), 44: 7-9.
Kesler, d. h. & Munns Jr., W. r., 1989, Predation by 
Belostoma flumineum (hemiptera): an important cause of 
mortality in freshwater snails. J.N. Amer. Benthol. Soc., 8: 
342-350.
Kher, a. i. & schnacK, J. a., 1991, Predator prey relationship 
between giant water bugs (Belostoma oxyurum) and larval 
anurans (Bufo arenarum). Alytes, (Paris), 9: 61-69. 
laucK, d., 1962, a monograph of the genus belostoma 
(hemiptera). Part i. introduction and b. dentatum and 
subspinosum groups. Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of 
Science, 11(3): 34-81
MenKe, a. s., 1979, family belostomatidae, pp. 76-86. 
In: Menke a. s. (editor), the semiaquatic and aquatic 
1035Predation on bioMPhalaria by sPecies of belostoMa
Braz. J. Biol., 66(4): 1033-1035, 2006
hemiptera of california. Bulletin of the California Insect 
Survey, 21: 1-166.
oKada, h. & naKasuJi, f., 1993, comparative studies on the 
seasonal occurrence, nymphal development and food menu 
in two giant water bugs Diplonychus japonicus vuillefroy 
and D. major esaki (hemiptera: belostomatidae). Res. Pop. 
Ecol., (Kyoto), 35: 15-22.
Pereira, M. & Melo, a. l., 1998, influência do tipo de 
presa no desenvolvimento e na preferência alimentar de 
Belostoma anurum herrich-schåffer, 1848 e B. plebejum 
stål, 1858 (heteroptera: belostomatidae). In: J. l. 
nessimian,  & a. l. carvalho (eds.), Ecologia de Insetos 
aquaticos. Serie Oecologia Brasiliensis, (rio de Janeiro), 
v. 41-49.
Pointier, J. P. & delPlanQue, a. 1976, les predateurs de 
Biomphalaria glabrata (say, 1818). Mollusque vecteur de 
la schistosomose en guadeloupe. Bull. Soc. Sci. Vét. Med. 
Comp. (lyon), 78: 319-331.
saha, t. c. & raut, s. K., 1992, bioecology of the water 
bug Sphaerodema annulatum fabricius (heteroptera: 
belostomatidae). Arch. Hydrobiol., 124: 239-253.
schnacK, J. a., 1976, insecta hemiptera. belostomatidae. 
Fauna Argentina de Agua Dulce Rep. Arg., (buenos aires), 
35, fasc. 1: 66.
sMith, r. l., 1997, evolution of paternal care in the giant 
water bugs (heteroptera: belostomatidae). In: J. c. choe 
and b. J. crespi (eds.), Social Behavior in Insects and 
Arachnids. cambridge, university Press, 16: 149.
soMasundarao, g., 1963, a preliminary note on the 
biological control of freshwater snails by aquatic insects. 
Indian.Vet. J., (Madras), 40: 50.
taWfiK, M. f. s., el-sherif, s. i. & lutfallah, a. f., 
1978, on the life history of the giant water bug Limnogeton 
fieberi Mayr. (hemiptera: belostomatidae), predatory on 
some harmfull snails. Zool. Anz. (Jena), 86: 138-145.
voelKer, J., 1968, untersuchungen zu ernährung, 
fortpflanzungsbiologie und entwicklung von Limnogeton 
fieberi Mayr (belostomatidae: hemiptera) als beitrag 
zur Kenntnis von natürlichen feinden tropischer 
suβwasserschnecken. Entomol. Mitt. Zool. Staatsinst. 
Zool. Mus. Hamb., 3: 1-24.
-



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Predation on Biomphalaria sp. (Mollusca: Planorbidae) by three species of the genus Belostoma (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae)

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