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Dieren en planten

Heteroptera   Water striders   Beetles   Whirligig beetles   
  • Dut: Schaatsenrijders
  • Lat: Gerridae
  • Eng: Water striders, Pond bugs

 

  • Dut: Beeklopers
  • Lat: Veliidae
  • Eng: Water crickets, smaller water striders, riffle bugs, broad-shouldered water striders
  • Ger: Bachläufern
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Water strider, Foto naar http://www.chris-schuster.com

Water striders

Water striders skate on the water surface by making use of the surface tension. They can also make fairly large leaps. There are nineteen species of water striders in the Netherlands. One well-known species is the pond skater (or Jesus bug). Another common skater, but a species of beetle, is the whirligig beetle.

  • Drowning in phosphates

    Due to the presence of phosphates in detergents and discharges of unpurified water into ditches and other water during the 1970s and 80s, there was too little water surface tension, whereby water striders sunk and drowned.
    Water striders hunt insects that happen to fall onto the water surface, such as flies. The striders feel where the prey has fallen from the splashing. In addition to such prey, they also feed on water fleas, copepods and mosquito larvae found just under the water surface. They prick their victim with their piercing snout and suck them till they are empty. At times, water striders will even eat their own species.
    The water cricket is also a kind of water strider found in slow flowing water. It uses its front legs to grab small insects from the surface. It lives in flowing water in forests with minor bank vegetation, as well as in dune creeks (found on Texel).

    

  • Water hunters

    Water striders hunt insects that happen to fall onto the water surface, such as flies. The striders feel where the prey has fallen from the splashing. In addition to such prey, they also feed on water fleas, copepods and mosquito larvae found just under the water surface. They prick their victim with their piercing snout and suck them till they are empty. At times, water striders will even eat their own species.
    The water cricket is a water strider found in slow flowing water. It uses its front legs to grab small insects from the surface. It lives in flowing water in forests with minor bank vegetation, as well as in dune creeks such as those found on Texel.