Classification

 

 

Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta (Insects)
Order: Hemiptera (The Bugs)
Family: Belostomatidae
Genius: Lethocerus
Species: L. Americanus

 

Endothelial cells under the microscope. Nuclei are stained blue with DAPI, microtubles are marked green by an antibody bound to FITC and actin filaments are labelled red with phalloidin bound to TRITC. Photo taken by de:Benutzer:Jan R.Eukarya-
L. americanus belongs in this domain because it posses a nucleus, cell membranes, and other membrane bound organelles.

Animalia-
 A black and white cat. Photo was originally posted to Flickr as Thinking of youL. americanus is eukaryotic and multicellular, which distinguishes it from bacteria and most protists. It is also heterotrophic, lack of cell walls, and do not have alternation of generation, which separate it from plant, algae, and fungi.

Arthropoda-
Two millipedes. Photo taken by Muhammad Mahdi Karim.In Greek, arthron means joint, and podos means "foot". Arthropod literally means 'jointed legs'. L. americanus belongs in this phylum because it has exoskeleton and a segmented body. More importantly, it has multiple legs!

Insecta-
A fly. Photo taken by Erik Hooymans.Organisms within this class have exoskeleton that is made of chitin. Also, their body is composed of a head, a thorax, and an abdomen. Three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and a pair of antennae are also the features that organisms in this class posses.

A portrait of a Danaid Eggfly. Photo taken by Muhammad Mahdi Karim.Hemiptera-
L. americanus has a specialized mouth designed for sucking body fluids out of its prey's body. The mandibles and maxillae of the organisms within this order have evolved into proboscis.

Belostomatidae-
 Organisms in this order are known as giant water bugs, or toe biter

Lethocerus-
 Organisms in this genus could be found in tropical, subtropical and temperate areas.

Americanus-
 Giant water bug (Lethocerus americanus). Photo taken by (Big iron (talk))

L. americanus is usually brown or tan, oval and flattened. Adult size can be up to 6 inches long! Its eyes are spherical and slightly raised.

Lethocerus americanus. Photo taken by The High Fin perm Whale.

L. americanus has two pair of back legs for locomotion. The pair forelegs are evolved to powerful, curve shape legs with sharp claws on it. The forelegs are used  for piercing the prey and tearing the tissue apart.

Click here to learn where to find this organism.

 

Taxonomy

Click on the image above to see the broad resolution of the  relationships from the Kingdom to species.

The taxonomy diagram was made using Microsoft smart art.

Phylogenetic Tree 

Click on the image above to see the refined resolution of the relationships from the Phylum to the Family.

The phylogenetic tree was made using painter. All data was referenced to the article Phylogeny of the true water bugs (Nepomorpha: Hemiptera-Heteroptera) based on 16S and 28S rDNA and morphology and tree of live web project. See reference here.