Giant Water Bug (Arctocorixa Interrupta) (Lethocerus Americanus )
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Water Boatman Giant Water Bug (Arctocorixa interrupta) (Lethocerus americanus ) Size: Baxter Conservation Conservation Baxter ID Area Cards Size: 25 to 100 mm in length 3 to 11 mm in length (~actual size of fully grown adult) Predaceous Diving Beetle Water Scavenger Beetle (Dytiscus marginalis) (Hydrophilus triangularis ) Size: Size: 2 to 70 mm 3 to 25 mm In length In length Larvae: Size: Water Tiger Adult 1 to 40 mm in length Giant Water Bug ( Lethocerus americanus ) Water Boatman (Arctocorixa interrupta) • Belong to a large group of insects called heteroptera, • Belong to a large group of insects called heteroptera, or “true” bugs. or “true” bugs. • They range in size from 2-11cm in length. One of •Somewhat flattened and elongate d in shape. Canada’s largest insect. • Hind legs are oar-shaped which allows them to swim. • They live in lakes and ponds. Are very fast swimmers. • Small insect: Adults range in length from 3mm - 1.5cm • They prefer habitats with aquatic vegetation where • Are usually dull colored and often mottled. they can grab hold of a plant near the surface, and • Often confused with backswimmers because they stick their short breathing tube out of the water to have the same general shape. The best way to tell allow them to breath while waiting for prey. them apart is by watching them swim: Backswimmers • They are good fliers. This enables them to fly from swim upside down in the water. pond to pond to look for better habitats (You may have • Lack gills and breath air when at the surface of the even found them in your schoolyard!) water or they carry an air bubble with them and • They hunt small fish, tadpoles, snails, insects and breath oxygen from the bubble while swimming. other invertebrates. They catch their prey with their • Feed on algae and decaying plant matter. but will strong front legs. They have a mouth adapted for eat small aquatic organisms. piercing and sucking, which they use to inject a toxin into their prey to kill it. The soft internal organs of the prey are then digested by the toxin and sucked up by the giant water bug with its mouthparts. • They are also called “toe biters” because they can deliver a nasty bit. HANDLE CAREFULLY! • In some species the males carry the eggs on their backs until they hatch (Hatch in ~6 days) • Giant Water Bugs are a delicacy in some Asian countries. YUM!! Water Scavenger Beetle Predaceous Diving Beetle (Hydrophilus triangularis ) (Dytiscus marginalis ) • Habitat: Ponds & slow moving streams. • Habitat: Lakes & ponds. • Can be 1 to 4 cm in length. • Adults brownish-black colour with yellowish band • They have an elongated-oval shape. Black to dark around edge of wings. Larvae brown-yellow in colour. brown in colour. Triangle groove on back where wings Have a long and oval shape. connect. • 3mm to 2.5cm in length. • They obtain air by raising the head slightly above the •Can be confused with Water Scavenger Beetles (lack surface and collecting a film of air over the under side bands on wings). of their body. • Adults and larvae are carnivorous, feeding on other • Mainly feed on decaying animal and plant matter. insects and small animals. Sometimes feeding on live plants and insects. • Lack gills and trap air bubbles under their wings to • Larvae are carnivorous, feeding on other small breath while swimming. animals. •Good fliers and often attracted to lights. • Larvae called Water Tigers: Aggressive carnivores; inject chemical into prey that digests organs of the prey into a liquid. To feed, water tigers then suck up the digested liquid through tubes; kind of the same way humans would drink a milkshake! Yum! • Larvae can bite. HANDLE CAREFULLY! Size: 2-60 mm in length Voshell, J.R. 2002. A Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of Illustrations courtesy of Gina Mikel: North America. Virginia: The MacDonald & Woodward Publishing Company. www.scientificillustrator.com Whirligig Beetle Backswimmer (Dineutes americanus) (Notonecta undulata) Size: Size: 4 to 17 mm 3 to 16 mm in length in length Water Strider Water Scorpions (Gerris marginatus ) Ranatra Nepa cinerea fusca Size: 8 to 12 mm in length Baxter Conservation Area Size: 20 to 30 mm Size: ID Cards in length 14 to 45mm in length Backswimmer (Notonecta undulata) Whirligig Beetle (Dineutes americanus) • Backswimmers spend most of their time • 3 to 16 mm in length swimming on their backs. Look like they are • Black, oval and flattened shape. swimming backwards too. • Found in streams, river, ponds and lakes • 4 to 17 mm in length near the waters edge. • Lakes and ponds with lots of vegetation are • Swim in dense groups on surface of the preferred habitats. water. Get their name from their habit of • Carnivores: Feed on other insects, snails, swimming in circles. Very fast swimmers. small fish and tadpoles. • Have two pairs of eyes: One pair for •A “true bug”: Have a mouthpart for sucking looking up and one pair for looking down. liquid. Suck body fluids out of prey to eat. • Adults carry a bubble of oxygen with them • Breathe by taking a air bubble underwater when they swim so they can breathe. You with them. can often spot the air bubble. • Strong fliers. • Carnivores: Feed on small insects, worms • Somewhat resemble water boatman. and larvae. • Can inflict a painful bite. HANDLE • Larvae rarely seen (Have gills for CAREFULLY! breathing). Water Scorpions Water Strider ( Gerris marginatus ) • Water scorpions are not really scorpions, • 3 to 18 mm in length but insects. Their name comes from their • Have a long and slender body with long front legs which look similar to the 'pinchers' thin legs. of scorpions. • Dark gray, black or brownish in colour. • They also have a tube which looks like the • Found moving on the surface of the water stinging tail of a real scorpion. It is not a of streams, lakes, ponds, marshes and stinging tale. It is used to obtain air from the ditches during spring and summer. water surface, much like a snorkel. • They have special hairs on the end of their • There are two different species found here legs that allow them to stay on the surface at Baxter. of the water as if they were ‘skating’ on a • A “true bug”: Have a mouthpart for frozen pond. sucking liquid. • Occasionally dive, but spend most of their • Prefer ponds, wetlands and shallow time on the surface of the water. streams. • Feed on smaller insects, both dead and • Attach to plants where they lie in wait and alive. stalk their prey. • Overwinter as adults. • Carnivore: Feed on small insects, crustaceans, fish and tadpoles. Voshell, J.R. 2002. A Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America. Virginia: The MacDonald Illustrations courtesy of Gina Mikel: & Woodward Publishing Company. www.scientificillustrator.com Fishing Spider Snails (Various Species) (Dolomedes triton) Size: 10 to 60mm Size: 9 to 13mm Soldier Fly Larvae Water Mite (Odontomyia sp.) Size: 5 to 35mm Size: 1 to 7 mm In length Baxter Conservation Area ID Cards Fishing Spider Snails (Dolomedes triton) (Various Species) • Lives on or near water; permanent • Herbivore ponds, lakes, stream pools. • Distinct head with 2 tentacles that can • Can dive and stay under for long be extended or retracted, each tentacle periods of time. has an eye at the end. • Hang head down on vegetation just • Moves about on thick, muscular foot on above waterline or hunt on the water for underside of body which is housed in a insects. single, coiled shell. • Carnivore: feeds on insects, tadpoles • Two types of snails common at Baxter: and small fish. Pond Snail and Ramshorn Snail. • Greenish brown with distinct white lines and spots, coloured bands on back. Water Mite Soldier Fly (Order: Acariformes ) (Stratiomyia sp.) • Very common in ponds, lake, swamps, • Many different species, only about half marshes and bogs where the water is of them live partly in water. shallow and there is vegetation. Some live • Aquatic species found at the edges of in running water. shallow ponds and marshes. • Appear as tiny red dots moving through •Larva segmented with tough skin, the water. looks lifeless. • Look like tiny fat spiders; related to • Larvae feeds on decaying matter and spiders. algae. • Usually brightly coloured: green, blue, • Herbivore, carnivore and scavenger orange, yellow, or red; some are dull • Adults look like bees, feed on nectar. browns or blacks. • Diet includes larvae of small aquatic insects. Voshell, J.R. 2002. A Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America. Virginia: The MacDonald & Illustrations courtesy of Gina Mikel: Woodward Publishing Company. www.scientificillustrator.com Leeches Fairy Shrimp (Various Species) (Brachinecta paludosa) Size: 10 to 25 mm Size: 4 to 450 mm, fully extended. Scud Caddisfly (Hyalella azetca) (Various Species ) Larvae Size: Up to 30mm Adult Size: 5 to 20mm Baxter Conservation Area Size: 18 to 50mm ID Cards Fairy Shrimp Leeches (Brachinecta paludosa) (Various Species) • Omnivore • Carnivore and scavenger. • 11 pairs of flattened legs • Flat, segmented worm. • Female has egg sack behind her gill • Moves by “looping” – alternately legs attaching the mouth and tail sucker to • Swims on its back. the surface. • Feed on algae bacteria and bits of • Feeds on blood; called “bloodsucker”. debris • Found in ponds, lakes, marshes and slow areas of streams and rivers. • Not all species of leeches feed on blood, some scavenge on dead animal material. Caddisfly Scud (Various Species ) (Hyalella azetca) • Herbivore • Scavenger • Larvae found in ponds, lakes or • Also called “Side-swimmer” because streams. they swim on their sides. • Soft-bodied larvae crawl on pond floor. • Body flattened sideways. • Creates a case of twigs, shells, leaves, or • Live on bottom or among submerged stones cemented together with saliva objects.