Pond skater
Pond skaters, members of the Gerridae family, are a diverse group of aquatic insects known for their ability to glide across the surface of slow-moving rivers, stagnant ponds, and still lakes. With over 1,300 species worldwide, they possess long, slender legs that create an X shape, allowing them to distribute their weight and skate over water at speeds of up to four feet per second. Their dark blue or brown bodies are equipped with tiny hairs that repel water, enabling them to remain buoyant. Pond skaters primarily feed on insects and their larvae that fall onto the water's surface or live near it, using their sharp, hollow rostrum to pierce and consume prey.
During mating season in spring and summer, males attract females through rhythmic drumming on the water. Each female lays 2 to 20 eggs on vegetation, with young emerging after about a month. The life cycle of pond skaters includes several nymph stages, during which they molt and grow before reaching adulthood in approximately two months. While they are preyed upon by birds and frogs, pond skaters face significant threats from pollution, which can disrupt their habitat and food supply. These fascinating insects not only play a role in their ecosystem but also exhibit unique behaviors and adaptations for survival.
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Pond skater
The family of pond skaters are among the world's 1,300 species of related water bugs that live on the water’s surface. Pond skaters have long legs for moving quickly over the water to feed on insects on the surface.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Family: Gerridae
Genus: Various (see below)
Species: Various (see below)
Hundreds of pond skater species in several genera of the Gerridae family live on the surfaces of the world's slow-moving rivers, stagnant ponds, and still lakes. Some members of the genera Halobates, Rheumatobates, and Asclepios inhabit saltwater surfaces. The largest genus is Gerris.
The uppermost layer of water is like a thin, elastic film or skin which can support very light objects. The pond skaters’ long, narrow bodies are dark blue or brown on the back and pale on the underside. Tiny hairs cover the undersides and repel water. The rear and middle pairs of legs are long and have pads with water-repellant hairs and claws. These long legs form an X shape which distributes their weight so they do not sink. These features help the long legs slide or skate across the water’s surface at up to four feet (nearly 1 1/4 meters) per second. During storms, the pond skaters huddle on the land and clumsily walk.
Pond skaters are in the order of insects called bugs. Bugs are insects that have beak-like mouthparts, called rostrums, for piercing the bodies of animals or plants and sucking the tissues and fluids inside. The pond skater has a long, hollow, sharp rostrum. When it senses the vibrations and ripples in the water of prey, it skates toward it, seizing it with its short front legs. This prey includes insects and their larvae. The skater seizes prey that falls onto the water's surface and becomes trapped. To these insects, the surface film is like a sheet of sticky jelly. Other prey live on the surface or rise from beneath the surface. Pond skaters may eat their own young when food is scarce or if they confuse them for prey.
Birds, frogs, and birds prey on pond skaters. The greatest threat to pond skaters is pollution, which may kill the skaters' food supply. Pollution from detergents may destroy the surface layer of water so the skaters sink. Pollution from oil may be so bad that the skaters cannot skate but only walk clumsily on the surface.
The mating season occurs in the spring and summer. Males attract females by drumming their legs on the water. Males may fight each other for mates. Each female lays between 2 and 20 eggs on vegetation at the shoreline, and the eggs hatch one month later. Depending on when they were laid, the young hatch between May and July. The young look like adults but do not have wings. They experience five 10-day nymph stages, molting, or shedding their skins, in each phase. They reach adulthood at around two months old. The young that hatched from May to July mate late the same summer before they die. This second batch of young hatch in August and September. They fly away to settle in other bodies of water and hibernate for the winter in clumps of grass near the water. In April, they stop hibernating and mate before dying at about eight months of age.
Bibliography
"Common Pond Skater." The Wildlife Trusts, www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/bugs/common-pond-skater. Accessed 15 Apr. 2024.
"Pond Skater." A-Z Animals, 4 May 2021, a-z-animals.com/animals/pond-skater. Accessed 15 Apr. 2024.