#marsh treader

[drhoz]

[drhoz]

[drhoz]

[drhoz]

#1836 - Hydrometra sp. - Marsh Treader

AKA Water Measurer.

The Hydrometridae are a new family for me - I don’t recall ever hearing of them before, let alone actually see one. Very weirdly shaped heads.

Most of the 147 known species of Hydrometrid are tropical, and wingless, but this one clearly has fully developed wings, which may explain why I spotted it on my windscreen instead of on the surface of the water near the edge of a marsh. It may have mistaken the reflection off the glass for water, which happens to a lot of aquatic insects that also fly from pond to pond. 

Like most insects that live on the surface of the water (which includes families closely related to the Hydrometridae) they’re predators of unlucky insects stuck in the meniscus, but can also use their barbed rostrum to snag prey from under the surface. 

[explosionsoflife]

This insect is a European water measurer (Hydrometra stagnorum), also known as a marsh-treader. They belong to the family Hydrometridae, which consists of all water measurers. These species live on the surface film of water—like pond skaters—but they move in a creeping, stealthy way that allows them to sneak up on their prey. Water measurers are predators at all stages of their lives, using their sharp mouth-parts to spear and suck the life juices out of their prey, which they prefer to be already dead or dying. They use vibrations along the surface of the water to locate their prey, such as the springtail (class Collembola) that the water measurer shown has caught.

(Source)