[3] The swimming-like movement is facilitated by the two unequal flagella that Bodo possesses which arise from an anteriorly located flagellar pocket.

The genus was originally described in 1831 by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg as having an ovoid body, a very short tail, transparent and able to show the colour of the food that it ingests.

[2] After 130 years, Bodo has been refined and now is the only genus in the family Bodonidae making it a homogeneous grouping, however, as more studying is done on the species, more changes are likely to arise.

[2] It took 130 years to reach this point as even after the use of multiple gene analysis, there are still big arguments over the placement of certain species in the genus.

[6] In nature, Bodo is found in marine or fresh water and in terrestrial environments that have high levels of moisture, for example dung.

[4] Often the bacteria are phototrophic, which means that Bodo are part of the second layer of food nets as they lack the ability to produce their own energy.

[4] During feeding, the shorter of the two flagella, which usually has mastigonemes attached, is used in a sweeping motion to move bacteria towards the circumbuccal lappets, which lie just below the cell membrane.

These microtubules are thought to be involved in ingestion as discussed by Mitchell et al. in 1988, however it remains unconfirmed if they play an active role.