Water bug

“ Giant Water-bug! Do not take offence at his not speaking, Hyla; he is simply crushed with his trouble. You see his wife forces him to act as a sort of baby carriage. She fastens her eggs on his back with waterproof glue, although he struggles and struggles to escape her, and he has to carry them about with him everywhere, poor old fellow! Sometimes he is so nearly heartbroken he just hangs to a water-weed and won’t move, no matter who tries to get up a fight with him. It is hard on him, for Giant Water-bugs have gay times. ”

“ The tibia shuts into a groove in the femur, and thus the bug is able to seize and hold its prey.
It clasps its victim in its arms, as it were, and calmly proceeds to suck out its blood.
In some species of the giant water bugs the female does not leave her eggs in the pond to take care of themselves; she puts them on the back of her mate, who is obliged to carry all of his progeny about with him until they relieve him by hatching out and swimming off to see life for themselves. [Pg 127]
Little Mrs. Shore Bug
May says she wants to hear more about bugs. ”

“ The body is covered with a jointed, chitinous shell, like many of the insects. This peculiarity left early naturalists in doubt as to whether it actually was a fish or some sort of monstrous water bug. It is, of course, a true fish with no insect affiliations. The hard shell makes it a feeble, inefficient swimmer. It is able, in fact, to swim at all only because of a large air bladder so delicately adjusted to the specific gravity of the animal [Pg 83] that if a gas bubble the size of a pinhead is let out by a puncture the sea horse sinks to the bottom. ”

“ Not a few have the power of emitting powerful odours, in some cases of an agreeable nature, and in others—as the common bed bug—of a most disgusting nature. The order readily separates itself into two great divisions—namely, the Geocorisa, or Land Bugs, and the Hydrocorisa or Water Bugs. ”

“ Another American water-bug of similar build, but much smaller size, has the same general habits, to which it adds the more special one of carrying about its eggs on its back, where, in time, they are hatched, but do not, it would appear—though this seems somewhat out of harmony with the practical spirit of nature—proceed at once to suck their parent’s blood, an omission which, as it would be a most moving instance of unselfish surrender on the part of the latter, is, perhaps, to be regretted. ”

“ The giant water bugs are not pleasant to handle when alive.
If you ever succeed in catching one in the water, which is not easy, they slip about so quickly, be sure and not take it in your fingers.
The California children call a species they have there "toe-biters," and they say they bite their toes when they go in wading.
The giant water bugs are the largest of living bugs, and they even kill and eat fish.
Their fore legs can shut up like a jackknife. ”

“ At night some of the whirligig beetles, the shiny, bean-like creatures seen whirling in incessant circles in corners by the bank, make a quite audible and almost musical sound upon the water. The activity of many of the water insects is astonishing. Besides keeping in almost incessant motion, those which spend most of their time below water have generally to come up constantly to breathe. Such are the water-bugs, water-scorpions and stick insects, which, though slender as rushes, and with limbs like hairs, can catch and kill the fry of the smaller fishes. ”

“ The largest insects occurring in our fresh-water ponds are the giant water bugs—a family of peculiar creatures, armed with immense front legs fitted for grasping and clasping their victims, and a piercing, dagger-like beak which serves both to strike the prey and as a sucking tube to extract its juices, and which also appears to be provided with poison glands which make more sure the effect of every thrust. ”

“ As is the case with other water-bugs, this insect is predaceous and feeds upon aquatic grubs or worms. The body is richly supplied with long hairs, which serve to entangle bubbles of air for purposes of respiration. ”

“ These water-bugs, though some of them are excellent food for even the small fish, will attack the ova, and therefore they should be kept out of the hatching trays. The fish culturist should, however, whenever it is possible, cultivate such of these water-bugs as are good food for the fry in separate ponds, as I have before recommended. The best of these water-bugs are Corixæ. Others, such as the water-boatman, water-scorpions and pond-skaters, are not of any value as food for the fish. ”

“ Estuaries and tidal creeks, which, as we have seen, are included in the habitat of these water-bugs—at least, of the giant one—bring us gradually to the sea. That there are marine insects we know, but they do not appear to extend beyond the tidal beach, on the sands of which they expatiate, when the sea is out, and burrow into them on its return. ”

“ Another method of securing fresh air, but differing from that of any of the insects previously mentioned, is by means of elongated breathing tubes, thus allowing the insect to remain submerged and yet secure a fresh supply of air from the surface. This method is used by some predaceous water bugs, as shown in the plate, Ranatra fusca. As with all of our Predaceous water bugs, which have the elongated respiratory tube at the end of the body, the Water-scorpion has its fore legs adapted for capturing and holding its prey, which consists generally of small fish and insects. ”

“ Locomotion and breathing, either one or both of these functions, are, as a rule, very different in land and water insects.
The variety of aquatic insects, if we consider only the adults, is not great when compared with the land insects. But when we compare fresh and salt water forms it is surprising how few kinds there are which live in the sea, in spite of its vast area and great food supply. So few are the insects found in the sea, or other salt waters, that, to most of us, to speak of aquatic insects only calls to mind fresh water forms. ”

“ While insects are found living under most diverse conditions on land, that is, on the ground, in the leaves, fruits and stems of plants, in the trunks of trees or in dead wood, in the soil, in decaying animal or plant matter, as parasites on or in other animals, and in all fresh-water ponds and streams, they do not live in ocean water. A few species live habitually on the surface of the ocean, and a few other forms are found habitually on the water-drenched rocks and seaweeds between tide lines. ”

“ A favored feeding site is often the head of the pool, where a trout will have the first chance to seize insects or other organisms carried into the pool. It also has the option of hunting many of the forms of life that live in the stream with it: insect larvae and nymphs of many kinds, aquatic beetles and spiders, crayfish, leeches and worms, water-mites, snails, salamanders, tadpoles, and the smaller fish. ”

“ By having such a place, when any insect is fastened on a trout, he will go to the quick-running water, and will soon rub it off. Putting trout in a pond with mud and weedy bottom that contains water-insects, and no stream flowing into it, is like tying a man's hands and placing him where there are plenty of mosquitoes, gnats, and black flies. The running water and gravelly bottom answer the same purpose in keeping the trout free from insects as our hands do in keeping the mosquitoes from us. ”

“ Imitations of such can be used throughout the summer months. There are many insects that do not breed in water, yet are successful baits. As a rule, insects that appear in large numbers, whether they belong to land or water, are the proper ones for imitation. Solitary specimens, although dear to the heart of an entomologist, are eyed by the fish with haughty indifference. Water is a great attraction for all insect tribes. The banks of streams constitute the favorite hunting-ground for insect collectors, where they compete with the fish, those practical entomologists, in collecting. ”

“ They live very largely on the larvae of mosquitoes. They also eat crane-fly larvae, which are often very destructive in grass lands and wheat fields. Predaceous diving beetles, which are a nuisance in fish hatcheries, are eaten by them. Dr. Alexander Wetmore's (1925) analysis of the contents of 106 stomachs showed that the food of the Wilson phalarope is mainly insects, of which various flies made up 43.1 per cent, aquatic bugs 24.4 per cent and beetles 20.1 per cent. The remainder of the food included brine shrimps, amphipods, eggs of water fleas, and seeds of various aquatic plants. ”

“ The insects that frequent the waters, require predaceous animals to keep them within due limits, as well as those that inhabit the earth; and the water-spider (Argyroneta aquatica) is one of the most remarkable upon whom that office is devolved. To this end, her instinct instructs her to fabricate a kind of diving-bell in the bosom of that element. She usually selects still waters for this purpose. Her house is an oval cocoon, filled with air, and lined with silk, from which threads issue in every direction, and are fastened to the surrounding plants. ”

“ DESTRUCTION OF INSECTS. It is well known to naturalists, but less familiarly to common observers, that the aquatic larvae of some insects which in other stages of their existence inhabit the land, constitute, at certain seasons, a large part of the food of fresh-water fish, while other larvae, in their turn, prey upon the spawn and even the young of their persecutors. ”

“ The common garden mosquito, while not dangerous, is decidedly a nuisance and can be exterminated in the same way—by draining the swamps and pools, or by flooding them with crude petroleum,—or by draining swamps or pools into fresh-water ponds and then putting minnows or other fish into these ponds. ”

“ Theoretically the extermination of mosquitoes is a very simple matter. These insects are always hatched from aquatic larvæ or grubs which can live only in small stagnant collections of water, such as pots and tubs of water, garden cisterns, wells, ditches and drains, small ponds, half-dried water courses, and temporary pools of rain-water. So far as I have yet observed, the larvæ are seldom to be found in larger bodies of water, such as tanks, rice fields, streams, and rivers and lakes, because in such places they are devoured by minnows and other small fish. ”

“ In all the fresh-water and brackish environments, insects and their larvae are important links in the food chains—at the beginning as primary consumers of algae and other plant material, and farther along as predators, mostly on other insects. Some insects are parasites on the park’s warmblooded animals (including you) .
The invertebrates most sought by visitors are molluscs—or rather, their shells. You may find a few on the beach at Cape Sable, but don’t expect to find the park a productive shelling area. Stick to marine shells—dead ones. You cannot collect the fresh-water molluscs. ”

“ It is constantly seen wading in the shallows, digging up little slippery insects, the peculiar form of the bill enabling it to work them easily out of the sand. When feeding, it puts its head under the water to seize the insect at the bottom, then lifts it up quickly, making a rapid gobbling, as if swallowing a wriggling worm. ”

“ The many thousands of insect species requiring an underwater environment for their larval stage help sustain many species of terrestrial predators when the insects emerge from the water as adults. The kingfisher that nests here and the occasional great blue heron that stops during migration also enjoy the fruits of the water community, taking fish and frogs. ”

“ Most water insects are, however, not seen swimming about freely, but hide amid the various plants, mosses, etc., or in the mud at the base of the plants, and they can best be captured by dragging the net through these plants. When taken from the water the net is more or less filled with mud and parts of plants, and the water must be allowed to run out and the contents of the net spread out on a cloth or on a flat stone, if such be at hand. ”

“ The food of this species consists of earth-worms, grass-hoppers, crickets, and coleopterous insects, as well as small crustacea, whether of salt or fresh water, and snails. Now and then they may be seen thrusting their bills into the mud about oysters, in search of some other food. During autumn, they run about the old fields and catch an insect which the Blue Bird has been watching with anxious care from the top of a withering mullein stalk. They run briskly after the ploughman, to pick up the worms that have been turned out of their burrows. ”

“ These take their rise from the mud at the bottom, and, extending upwards to a distance of three or four inches, afford the larva a convenient retreat from all enemies. These insects are occasionally seen swimming laboriously through the water with a peculiar zigzag motion. When out of their burrows they have considerable difficulty in keeping beneath the surface, and may be often observed floating helplessly with their exposed portions quite dry; in fact the whole integment of the insect appears to have a peculiar power of resisting the water. ”

“ On the continents, insects are found in salt water lakes where the saline concentration is much greater than in sea water. Other types live in torrential streams and waterfalls where they get much rougher treatment than would come from wave action. There are two probable reasons for the failure to invade the ocean. One is the fact that no insect ever has been able to live in very deep water. ”