Pond skaters

[LindaB]

Just for a change, I thought you might like to see a couple of pond skaters. Funny little things but fascinating to watch their behaviour





Linda

[brainfarmer]

a very effective little water born pred. i see them as using 'surface tension' like a spiders web.

[goosey]

Quite right Linda it does make a change to see them - nice photo's as well .

[Wild-Woman]

Great pictures Linda. Some of the surface species that tend to get over-looked.
Many a time I've watched the motionless pond-skater, just the 4 little impressions of their 6 legs, dimpling in on the surface tension of the water.Then, all of a sudden, something disturbs that taughtness on the surface...something very small, like an aphid that has blundered onto the water, movement detected...the pond skater is off...skimming along like Torvill and Dean and....got it! Munch, munch,munch. Such dramas happen at the pond-side.

I'd love to see a water measurer in action. Infact, I'd like to actually see a water measurer!

[smartie]

Excellent photos - I've been trying to take some this weekend but got nothing useful in spite of nearly fallling into the pond at one point as I leaned too far over the wall. There seem to be an unusually large number of pond skaters around this spring in my pond - I don't know what conditions they particularly like, but I think we must have them. I was interested last year to see three of them apparently working as a team to subdue a dragonfly that had been knocked into the pond by a wasp.

[GuyF]

Originally Posted by Wild-Woman

I'd love to see a water measurer in action. Infact, I'd like to actually see a water measurer!

Last year I had one water measurer visit the pond but I didn't get the chance to see it in action because the Pond Skaters ate it!

Nice photos Linda, they are very interesting insects, I like watching them in my pond.
Guy

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by GuyF

Last year I had one water measurer visit the pond but I didn't get the chance to see it in action because the Pond Skaters ate it!

Oh no! That's tragic!


Why are they called measurers?

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by Wild-Woman

Great pictures Linda. Some of the surface species that tend to get over-looked.
Many a time I've watched the motionless pond-skater, just the 4 little impressions of their 6 legs, dimpling in on the surface tension of the water.Then, all of a sudden, something disturbs that taughtness on the surface...something very small, like an aphid that has blundered onto the water, movement detected...the pond skater is off...skimming along like Torvill and Dean and....got it! Munch, munch,munch. Such dramas happen at the pond-side.

I'd love to see a water measurer in action. Infact, I'd like to actually see a water measurer!

they are so tiny and so fine they are very easy to miss. Sometimes though they are present in really large numbers, I came across lots on a small brook once though Please don't ask me to remember where that was!!

Have to say though that they are not as impressive as the water stick insect, I found lots of those last year in your neck of the woods - most easily seen by looking for them at night with a torch.

[LindaB]

Thanks everyone for your nice comments on the pics and your keen interest in pond skaters - I am quite surprised that so many are interested.

Now a further surprise, someone has pointed out to me in the first photo that there are in fact some eggs Click on the pic, look bottom right and there they are - how on earth did I miss seeing them!

Linda

[Beetleboy]

Pond skaters are in the family Hemiptera,as you can tell on the top pic under the eye,the black rostrum,which all Hemiptera have.They use this to suck (like all Hemiptera do)the juices out of small tadpoles and other things like that.
Not all Hemiptera suck helpless tadpole's juices,some,like the green shield bug sucks plant juices.