Stinging freshwater Hydroids mussles and beetles

[popolarbear]

ah yeah. woops. and i did well in collage entomology class. you are right biodiver. it is the genus Hemiptera
this is i believe the actual bug in question. they hurt like a ****. and feels like a sting. but it might actualy be some kind of painfull venomous bite rather than a sting. looks like a beetle but is actualy a bug. commonly called a back swimmer. very small and very very painfull for its size.


im still looking for more info on stinging mussles. it may perhaps be just one life stage that is like this.the guy i talked to who introduced me to this notion, claimed that in some parts of the river these are a problem. anyone else hear anything about stinging mussles???