mystery insect
Location: South of Ireland
September 23, 2011 7:16 pm
Could you please identify the insect in the attaced photo. There are many of them in a river near my home in Ireland.
Signature: David
Hi David,
Water Striders are such common insects on ponds, lakes, streams and slow moving rivers, that we cannot understand why they are so underrepresented on our site. Because the spread of their legs distributes their weight evenly across a greater surface area, Water Striders are able to skate across the water without breaking the surface. Water Striders feed on small insects that fall onto the water’s surface. One group of ocean dwelling Water Striders contains the only true pelagic insects that are found far out to sea on the open ocean.