Abedus herberti

Several A. herberti, including both males with eggs on their back and individuals without eggs

As in its relatives, A. herberti has an unusual breeding behavior where the female attaches the eggs to the male's back and he takes care of them until they hatch into nymphs.[3] Each egg can measure as much as 6 mm × 2 mm (0.24 in × 0.08 in) when fully developed, making them some of the largest insect eggs.[5] After hatching from the eggs, the nymphs go through five instar stages before adulthood.[8]

A. herberti is a sit-and-wait predator that catches small animals, especially invertebrates such as other aquatic insects and snails, but also small vertebrates such as young fish and tadpoles.[7] Small and medium-sized prey items are caught with their strong front legs and stabbed with the proboscis, which injects a saliva that both incapacitates the prey and dissolves it.[7] The largest food category (animals 1.2 cm [0.5 in] or more in length) are mostly scavenged. The only prey they regularly catch alive (not just scavenge) in the largest category is nymphs of their own species.[7] Adults are generally highly cannibalistic towards their nymphs and older nymphs often eat younger; adults however only rarely cannibalize other adults.[7][8]

These two subspecies belong to the species Abedus herberti:

• Abedus herberti herberti Hidalgo, 1935
• Abedus herberti utahensis Menke, 1960