A Water Bug - Identification Help Appreciated
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
-
- Posts: 693
- Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 6:42 pm
- Location: South Beloit, Ill
A Water Bug - Identification Help Appreciated
Images 1 through 3
35mm Canon Macro lens at f/8 to f/11, one 30mm tube
Horizontal F.O.V. 9.0 mm
Image 1 dual reflected and transmitted illumination
Images2 and 3 reflected illumination
Canon 10D
Photoshop processing
This photogenic little bug was found in my local pond. It hangs upside down just below the waters surface. I found unexpectedly that it likes to eat insect larvae when I added one to the watch glass it was in. It pounced upon it so fast the larvae was knocked clear out of my field of view.
Walt
- rjlittlefield
- Site Admin
- Posts: 23603
- Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:34 am
- Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
- Contact:
Looks to me like a "Backswimmer", one of the true bugs, family Notonectidae.
They're aggressive little guys, liable to take a chomp out of you too.
I especially like images 2 and 3. Excellent capture of those fine filaments on the side of the abdomen. I have no idea what those do -- never noticed them before I saw these images, but now I see them in some of the BugGuide shots too.
--Rik
They're aggressive little guys, liable to take a chomp out of you too.
I especially like images 2 and 3. Excellent capture of those fine filaments on the side of the abdomen. I have no idea what those do -- never noticed them before I saw these images, but now I see them in some of the BugGuide shots too.
--Rik
-
- Posts: 5786
- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:17 am
- Location: Reading, Berkshire, England
-
- Posts: 693
- Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 6:42 pm
- Location: South Beloit, Ill
I believe these are hydrofuge hairs and function to hold the bug on the surface while it takes in a bubble of air; all part of its physical gill and plastron respiration.rjlittlefield wrote: Excellent capture of those fine filaments on the side of the abdomen. I have no idea what those do -- never noticed them before I saw these images, but now I see them in some of the BugGuide shots too.
--Rik
-
- Posts: 5786
- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:17 am
- Location: Reading, Berkshire, England