FOR AGES 3 YEARS TO 18 YEARS
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Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability.
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Have you ever noticed very small insects on water surfaces skating or striding swiftly over the water? Do you wonder whether it is a small-sized spider or a mosquito with long legs? Well, these little water striders that walk on water are called pond skaters. With water repellent hairy feet, these insects glide or skate across the surface of water with ease. Thanks to this skating-like movement, the insect got its name: pond skater, and the scientific name given to these insects is Gerris lacustris. It belongs to the Gerridae family, which includes more than 350 species.
These are harmless, friendly insects that help humans by keeping in check the population of mosquitoes by feeding on their larvae. Along with larvae, they also feed on small insects as prey that are found on the water's surface. These creatures are a very good example of how nature maintains a balance in the ecosystem. Found on calm water bodies, one can have fun watching them move together from one side of the water body to another side with the small disturbances created on the surface of the water.
If you found this article interesting, why not read our guide to the water beetle and giant African millipede too?
A pond skater is an insect. The body shape of this bug is very slender and elongated, with three pairs of legs. These water striders, or common pond skaters, walk on water with their water repellent limbs. Floating on the ripples in the water, they use the water's surface to communicate and prey.
Belonging to the class Insecta, common pond skaters, also known as water striders, do not have wings and belong to the family of Garridae, which have mouthparts evolved to pierce and suck, known as a rostrum, and have the famous ability to walk on water, hence the name pleuston (surface-living) animals.
Counting the number of common pond skaters skating across the water around the world is not practically possible but one can find them in very large numbers around calm water bodies.
A pond skater, or water strider, lives on any small to large water bodies like ponds, lakes, ditches, slow-flowing rivers, and canals.
As the name suggests, the common pond skater lives mostly on stagnant water surfaces or very slow-moving freshwater bodies.
We can see different species of water striders along with the common pond skater. They live alongside water crickets, mosquitoes, fishes, and other small insects that one can find in a common pond.
The life span of the common pond skater is just one year. After a female lays eggs the young have five different nymph stages each lasting for about 10 days, before reaching the adult phase.
They reproduce by an antagonistic reproductive relationship (sexual coercion). Females can shield themselves to protect against unwanted advancement, but males have evolved to reproduce by exposing the female to potential predators from below the water surface by tapping its surface, thus forcing her to submit quickly. A female lays its eggs on rocks or vegetation found in the pond vicinity.
Gerris lacustris are widely seen across the globe. The conservation status for this species is Least Concern.
A quick look at them might make you think these are simply mosquitoes with longer legs floating on water, but a closer look will reveal that they do not fly away but stride or skate across the water.
With their short front legs to catch prey and middle and back legs used for swift movements, pond skaters are a must-watch interesting species, but there are certainly cuter animals out there.
Pond skaters create ripple signals by moving their legs on the water surface to communicate and catch prey. Males use these vibration patterns to establish their territory and to attract females too.
The body length is mostly between 0.06-0.14 in (1.6mm-3.6mm). Just like a small mosquito with no wings and long legs, females are a little larger than their male counterparts.
Like any water strider, the speed of a common pond skater is around 100 body-lengths per second. To put that into perspective, it is similar to a 6 ft (1.8 m) tall human swimming at over 400 mph (643.7 kph)!
A pond skater is a very small insect that doesn't weigh 10 dynes in total, which is approximately 0.0035 oz (0.1 g).
They are simply called male and female pond skaters. As we know, their scientific name is Gerris lacustris.
Again, there is no specific term for a baby pond skater bug. We do know that the life cycle of a pond skater starts with its egg stage, followed by five stages of nymphs and then the adult stage.
They prey on mosquito larvae, very small insects that fall on the surface of the water, and very small tadpoles.
No, they are not poisonous or venomous.. Though pond skaters are very good predators, they do not bite but just prey on smaller insects.
They naturally exist around ponds and small freshwater bodies, mostly on still water surfaces. This natural habitat is where they thrive, so no, they are not suitable pets.
Pond skaters have been on earth for as long as 55 million years.
The legs of the pond skater can support up to 15 times the entire insect's weight.
Along with their hairy water repellent feet, their claws are retractable to help prevent them from drowning by breaking the surface tension of the water surface. This helps them to stay buoyant even during heavy winds and rains.
Pond skaters are at risk of being eaten by frogs and small fish.
The legs of a common pond skater are hairy, with tiny grooves which trap air. These grooves on the legs increase the water resistance and overall water buoyancy of the pond skater to allow them to skate across the surface of the water. Also, pond skaters can turn to cannibalism for survival when there is a shortage of food.
Other members of the Gerridae insect family are water striders, water skeeters, pond skaters, water scooters, water bugs, water skippers, and water skimmers. About 90% of these are freshwater insects, Halobates are the oceanic ones.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other insects, including the stick bug, or fungus beetle.
You can even occupy yourself at home by drawing one on our Pond skaters coloring pages.
Read The Disclaimer
At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents.
We try our very best, but cannot guarantee perfection. We will always aim to give you accurate information at the date of publication - however, information does change, so it’s important you do your own research, double-check and make the decision that is right for your family.
Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability.
Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.
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