I think part of it was related to the fact that they had crafted a clever barrier of hand flares yet forgot that the morphology of an insect demands that it has wings and can use them for something.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belostomatidae
(I think?)
"Their bite is considered one of the most painful that can be inflicted by any insect, however, though excruciatingly painful, it is of no medical significance."
Giant water bugs show up in the weirdest places. I found one - live - in the middle of the sidewalk on Huntington Ave in Boston once. A friend and I caught it and took it over to the Fens and set it free. I had no idea they bit at all.
I also don't know what it was doing in Boston. It was a Benacus deyrolli so it had way bigger front legs than this one but it was a little smaller over all.
An ex of mine and I found one of these in Madison Wisconsin one summer. We made a little video and set it up to They Might Be Giants' "Wicked Little Critter" complete with strobe light. Seemed to like it, but then was like "K guys I gotta go now"
I actually didn't know these things could fly. The Wikipedia article says they are NOCTURNAL fliers and I've only ever seen them in the day time, I literally didn't even known they had fully developed wings.
My friend and I gave the Boston one a good talking to about remembering it was a Giant Water Bug not a Giant Sidewalk Bug.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I don't actually have a clue if it was Benacus deyrolli (or if this one isn't for that matter), I'm just going by the fact that mine had front legs about half again longer than the one in the video.