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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Giant water bugs lay their eggs in early summer.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Giant water bug
- Scientific name
- Kirkaldyia deyrollei
- Japanese name
- タガメ
- Group
- Insects
- Class
- Insecta
- Order
- Hemiptera
- Family
- Belostomatidae
- Genus
- Kirkaldyia
A large insect of ponds, marshes and rice paddies. It spends the winter under dead grass and the like near the water.
With its thick front legs it seizes frogs, small fish and other prey, then sucks out their body fluids.
The female lays a cluster of eggs on plants sticking out above the water, and the male guards them until they hatch.
Basic data
- Size
- Body length: 48–65 mm
- Diet
- Frogs, small fish, and other animals
- Range
- Japan, the Korean Peninsula, China, Taiwan, the Russian Far East, and Southeast Asia
- Conservation status in Japan
- Vulnerable (VU)Assessed as Kirkaldyia deyrolliMinistry of the Environment of Japan, Red List 2020
Where the Giant water bug has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- タガメ
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 多摩動物公園 — タガメChecked: 2026-11-03
- Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Red List 2020Checked: 2026-11-07
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
The conservation status in Japan is the category in the Red Lists of the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, which assess the risk of extinction for wild animals in Japan.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeEXHIBIT INFORMATION
Places that keep or show the Giant water bug
Zoos, aquariums and other places whose official websites say they keep or show this animal.
Displays can change with the animals’ health and the seasons. Check each facility’s official website before you go.
RELATIVES
Others in Hemiptera
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