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Waterbugs
- University of Iowa Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
waterbugs YoU'RE NOT ALONE, fishing. Skating around your bobber on the quiet water are water striders, and that commotion on the inlet is their cousins - the backswimmers and water boatmen. Those water striders are true bugs, spider-like children of the great insect order Hemiptera and first cousins to the bedbugs and chinch bugs. Skating aimlessly around the surface of the pond, the water striders live on the incredibly thin film created by the surface tension of water particles. This film, or "neuston," is a world in itself, supporting a community of peculiar citizens. As in our world, the most successful residents are specialized. Some occur only on the bottom of the surface film, some live in it, and others - like the striders - are associated with the roof of this thin, tough film. I39 Water striders are the lions of the neuston, preying on dead and living insects that fall into the water. When times are tough, they may leap out of the water to capture flying insects. The undersurfaces of their bodies and long, slender legs are covered with a dense pile that keeps them absolutely dry. They're independent little bugs, and some species of water striders have been found in the ocean hundreds of miles from land. Their cousins, the backswimmers, are the little black and white darting insects that paddle along the water's surface or just beneath it. They swim on their backs, which are keeled like boats. The bellies of these insects have two double rows of fine hairs, each enclosing a small furrow that traps a pocket of air. When the backswimmer dives he takes his own air down with him in a sort of low level SCUBA arrangement. A pair of long, fringed and flattened legs kick the backswimmer at a strong clip through the water. These bugs are predacious, feeding on small insects, crustacea, and sometimes even small fish. Their sucking beaks can inflict a severe sting; I once took a jolt at the base of my forefinger that I felt all the way to the elbow. In the dim old days when swimsuits were swimsuits and women were women (although men weren't always sure of it) backswimmers sometimes became entangled in bathing garb and used ladies badly. This is no longer a problem. Water boatmen are gray and black mottled bugs less than a half-inch long that also have a pair of long, flattened legs. They swim with a swift, darting motion and when diving usually encase their bodies with an air bubble that makes them look as if they'd been plated with silver. Underwater, they must cling to objects to stay there, for this air supply would otherwise bob them to the surface. In stagnant water they come up regularly to recharge their air supply, but in fresh water their air bubble is replenished by air particles in the water. Not as predacious as their relatives, they scoop [18.191.174.168] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 19:32 GMT) up most of their food from the bottom ooze with spoonlike mouthparts. Down Mexico way these water boatmen are "farmed." They like to lay their eggs on a certain type of water grass. The indios tie this grass together in large bundles and float it on the surface of a pond until it is covered with water boatmen eggs. The bundles of grass are taken from the water and beaten over ground cloths until the eggs loosen and fall away. The eggs are then cleaned and powdered into flour. They say it's nourishing. Care for more tortillas? ...