[GSAS-Member] water boatman

[Trish <snips36@yahoo.com>]

I found this, and your right they do not fly in the
air, my mistake.


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Water boatman
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Water boatmen 


Sigara striata 
Scientific classification 
Kingdom: Animalia
 
Phylum: Arthropoda
 
Class: Insecta
 
Order: Hemiptera
 
Suborder: Heteroptera
 
Family: Corixidae
Leach, 1815 
 
Water boatmen are a type of insect in the family
Corixidae. They inhabit ponds and slow moving streams,
where they swim near the bottom. There are about 500
different known species.

Water boatmen generally have an elongate flattened
body up to 13 mm in length and have dark brown or
black stripes across the wings. They have four long
rear legs and two short front ones. The hind legs are
fringed with hairs and shaped like oars, hence the
name water boatman. Their forelegs are scoop shaped at
the tip. They also have a triangular head with short,
triangular mouthparts.

Unlike their relatives the backswimmers, who swim
upside down near the surface of the water, water
boatmen swim right side up near the bottom of ponds or
streams. It is easy to tell the two types of insects
apart simply by looking at where the insect is in the
water and whether it is swimming upside down or not.

Water boatmen are unusual among the aquatic true bugs
in that they are mostly non-predatory, dining on
aquatic plants and algae instead of insects and
vertebrates. They use their straw-like mouthparts to
inject saliva into plants. The saliva digests the
plant material, allowing the water boatman to suck the
liquified food back through their mouthparts and into
their digestive tract. A few species of water boatmen
are predatory, but the majority are herbivorous.

The reproductive cycle of water boatmen is annual.
Eggs are typically oviposited (deposited) on submerged
plants, sticks, or rocks. In substrate limited waters
(waters without many submegred oviposition sites),
every bit of available substrate will be covered in
eggs.

Water boatmen are considered a delicacy to people in
many parts of Mexico, where they are harvested and
eaten in large numbers. They are also used and
exported as pet food.







 
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