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Gelastocoris oculatus

Gelastocoris oculatus


Family: Gelastocoridae
Order: Hemiptera
Class: Insecta
Phylum / Division: Arthropoda
Kingdom: Animalia

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Records from Estancia cercana a la Ruta 98.


Description


Gelastocoris oculatus, the big-eyed toad bug, is a species of toad bug in the family Gelastocoridae. It is found in Central America and North America. North of Mexico, it is found in 28 continental United States and 3 provinces of Canada. They are riparian insects that are found near the shores of freshwater lentic and lotic systems. They prefer damp substrates over saturated substrates. Their coloration, morphology, and hopping behavior resembles toads. Toad bugs use their cryptic coloration to blend in with the sand, soil, or pebble-rich substrate of their habitats to avoid predation. They are able to leap many times their body length to avoid predation, and can swim short distances. Both G. oculatus adults and nymphs capture smaller insects by jumping on them, and consume them with their piercing sucking mouthparts. Females lay their eggs under rocks or in sand or mud, and nymphs have 5 instars.

They are most active in spring to autumn and those in the northern range hibernate. Adults have been known to congregate sometimes.

Subspecies: These two subspecies belong to the species Gelastocoris oculatus:
  • Gelastocoris oculatus oculatus (Fabricius, 1798)
  • Gelastocoris oculatus variegatus (Guérin-Méneville, 1844)

Source: Wikipedia, article Gelastocoris oculatus. Content adapted from Wikipedia, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Accessed on 17/07/2026.





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Foto
Photography ID: 434242
  Adult

Treinta y Tres
Treinta y Tres
Uruguay
10/28/2020
Emilio Lessa



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Page 1
Record IDDateExact timeCountryProvince / departmentPlaceFilmedPhotographedRecorded vocalObservedHeardWounded or deadNumber of individualsUser or BibliographyDetail
137098528/10/2020UruguayTreinta y TresEstancia cercana a la Ruta 98., Treinta y TresEmilio Lessa
Page 1

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Recommended citation
Please use the following reference when citing this species account.
EcoRegistros. 2026. Gelastocoris oculatus – Species account. Accessed from www.ecoregistros.org on 17/09/2026.