What are Water Bugs?
Water bugs refer to a large number of aquatic insects that belong to the group of insects called the ‘true bugs’, most of which are terrestrial. They belong to the order hemiptera, and are classified into the infraorders – nepomorpha and gerromorpha. Water bugs differ from most other lake and pond insects in the fact that they do not have gills to breathe. Rather, they use oxygen directly from air. Those that do go beneath water carry a supply of oxygen with them in the form of bubbles or as a glistening sheath of air trapped within waterproof hair on their body. Other than the water boatman, most of the water bugs are predatory. They have sharp beaks and stinging apparatus with which they can deliver a powerful sting or inject enzymes that would dissolve the tissues of their prey. Then they suck out the liquefied insides of their victim. Types of Water Bugs Back Swimmer Back swimmers get their name from the fact that they swim upside down on their back with their legs up on or near th
