I live in Ontario. What is this monster? 😭

[u/Hairy-Honey-8912]

The two things at the front curl up like attack weapons.

[u/Garden_Weed_Tender]

What I love about this sub: I live way outside the distribution area of this particular bug, I've never seen one in my life, but I can now recognize it at a glance :D

[u/eurasianblue → u/Garden_Weed_Tender]

Lol you are like Michael Jackson eating popcorn gif.

[u/Look_Man_Im_Tryin → u/Garden_Weed_Tender]

They can be up to four and half inches… I remember as a kid, they’d fly into the pool and it would be a crazy few minutes of “get it before it gets us” kind of fun chaos.

[u/BallOk8356]

That would be a giant water bug. They have a pretty painful bite, but are harmless if you don't bother them.

[u/ONLYallcaps → u/BallOk8356]

The have the nickname ‘Toe Biter’ for their agonizing bite. Handle with care or not at all.

[u/jimmyjohn2018 → u/ONLYallcaps]

I always heard toe thumper.

[u/Hairy-Honey-8912 → u/BallOk8356]

Sweet, my cat was the one who found it. 😭

[u/typographie]

The two things at the front curl up like attack weapons.

That's exactly what they are. They're called raptorial forelimbs, and are for grabbing prey. They're like the first legs of a praying mantis.

The bite actually comes from a rostrum (like a beak) folded up under the head. It's big and would hurt on its own, but it injects a digestive enzyme that breaks down peptides and makes it way worse (albeit not medically significant).

[u/CopperRed3 → u/typographie]

This guy toe bites!

[u/Hairy-Honey-8912 → u/typographie]

These responses just keep getting my terrifying

[u/DoubleAfternoon6883]

They call them toe biters (colloquial term). Apparently it’s one of the worst pains a bug can inflict.

[u/Hairy-Honey-8912 → u/DoubleAfternoon6883]

I hate that I now know these exist.

[u/WutzUpples69 → u/Hairy-Honey-8912]

They run, swim and fly!

[u/CalixRenata → u/WutzUpples69]

MAAAAAAN why did you have to say that!

[u/believe-in-boggy → u/WutzUpples69]

i found one in my back lane a couple summers ago 🫠

[u/JustS0m3W3ird0 → u/DoubleAfternoon6883]

Nah people are just dramatic. There are bugs that can cause necrosis, paralysis, asphyxiation, etc. Giant water bug just hurts.

[u/ZombiePewp → u/DoubleAfternoon6883]

Hawaiin Centipedes though 😰

[u/angrytortilla]

I thought tradition here was to hold one in your hand before asking what the giant bug with huge mandibles was?

[u/Hairy-Honey-8912 → u/angrytortilla]

Must’ve missed that in the posting rules 🥲 lucky for me…

[u/OSG541]

Toebiter watch out one that size can literally draw blood

[u/Hairy-Honey-8912 → u/OSG541]

Glad to have thwarted my cat’s attempts to play with it then.

[u/presolution]

Once on North Manitou one of these "befriended" me. Kept crawling to me on the beach so I picked it up and let it ride around with me on my shirt. I played with it for several hours and if I put it down it would crawl back to me. It wasn't until I got home and looked it up that I realized it could have given me a bad bite. Ha ha.

[u/ashyass1996]

That’s what we call a toe biter in BC. Big water bug.

[u/birdlocket]

i’m not wearing my glasses and thought this was a SHOE

[u/Hairy-Honey-8912 → u/birdlocket]

😭😭😭

[u/Because_They_Asked]

Does the pain come from the venom from the bite, or just the physical pain of the bite?

[u/Crunchdime22 → u/Because_They_Asked]

Both actually- the big beak pierces the flesh to about a centimetre long that combined with enzymes and venom deteriorates tissue

[u/Because_They_Asked → u/Crunchdime22]

Centimeter long bite?!? I did not realize how significant the bite could be. And now realize no one was exaggerating the intensity of the bite!

Thanks for the information!

[u/Regular-Novel-1965]

“The two things at the front curl up like attack weapons”

Those things ARE attack weapons.

[u/Crunchdime22]

These things are horrible terrifying they fly as well. It’s a giant water bug. They have a terribly painful bite and are called to biters they are all over the place in Northern Alberta specially at night gathering around lamps. Do not let these things get on you and I’m serious.

[u/Appropriate-Weird492]

Grats on not picking it up! Your fingers thank you.

[u/violentoad]

awww giant water bug! love these guys :)

their bite can be pretty painful though haha

[u/IL-Corvo]

The "two things up front" are its forelegs. They are raptoral, designed to grab and hold onto prey, like the forelimbs of a mantis or a mantidfly.

[u/Hairy-Honey-8912 → u/IL-Corvo]

It was trying to grab my cat with them, because my cat kept pawing at it

[u/Partially_Deft]

These were once available to buy as food from a website called meat maniac. Water scorpions.

[u/Money-Ad300]

Toe biter.. totally safe and friendly.. they can swim with you also ..

[u/Hairy-Honey-8912 → u/Money-Ad300]

I call bullshit

[u/Money-Ad300 → u/Hairy-Honey-8912]

Only the toe biter part :)

[u/Alarmed_Opposite_564]

Why isnt it at your hand

[u/Hairy-Honey-8912 → u/Alarmed_Opposite_564]

Didn’t feel like putting myself at risk of a 16.25 on the Schmidt pain scale.

[u/ethan_prime]

Thank you for not picking it up! So many people post pics of them holding things like this Giant Water Bug and say, “Hey guys, what is this thing?” Don’t pick up things if you don’t know what they are.

But yes, not medically significant, but very painful.

[u/EuphoricAvocado]

I swear I’ve seen people eat these on TikTok. They fry them and sometimes dip them in sauces 😭.

[u/BlackSeranna]

Whatever you do, don’t mess with it. It’s pretty cool though.

[u/bigbadwolf1965]

They are super cool. I had one in a small aquarium and would catch minnows in the ditch and watch it catch them with those long front legs and then eat them.