Tiny vampire bugs devour turtles and snakes by sucking their insides out alive
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(Credit: Shin-ya Ohba)
Tiny water bugs are one of nature's deadliest predators devouring frogs, turtles, ducks and even venomous snakes, stunned scientists have discovered.
A shocking new study revealed the fearless four-inch aquatic vampire-like "monsters" regularly take on and eat creatures up to ten times their size.
They are what's known as “lie-and-wait predators,” said Charles Swart, a senior lecturer at Trinity College in Connecticut who has studied the killer insects for years.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“They just take up a position holding onto a plant in the water, and anything that moves in front of them, they’ll grab it and try to eat it,” he said.
The amazing new research - published in the latest edition of the journal Entomological Science - takes a closer look at the hunting skills of the bugs.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The largest of the 150 species - Lethocerus grandis and Lethocerus maximus - are found in South America and have an incredible appetite.
(Credit: Shin-ya Ohba)
Study author Shin-ya Ohba, associate entomology professor at Japan's Nagasaki University, says the bugs are super strong - despite their tiny size.
He said their front legs are "Popeye" like and the bugs have even been known to use their incredible power to take down a turtle.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Once prey comes within reach, the predators quickly snap their front legs tight and grasp the creature with their other legs.
They then pierce their prey with a dagger-like proboscis, injecting enzymes and possibly toxins into their unfortunate victims, reports the National Geographic.
Swart, who wasn’t involved in the latest study, added: “They break down the tissue and then they suck it back up.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(Credit: Shin-ya Ohba)
In larger prey, this can take several hours for at least part of which the poor victim will still be alive.
This story originally appeared in The Sun.