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Back Swimmers (Suborder Heteroptera, Family Notonectidae, Genus Notonecta) are aquatic bugs often seen swimming in quiet ponds and other still waters. Back Swimmers are recognized by their oval body, long, oar-like swimming legs, and habit of swimming up-side down near the top of the water column (compare with water boatmen).
In North American, there are 3 genera and 32 species of Back Swimmers. Back Swimmers are predacious and feed on anything they can catch; mostly other insects, but also tadpoles, small fish, human fingers (they can deliver a good bite).
For more information, see Wikipedia and BugGuide.net. |