Brazos Bend State Park - Pond Life Water Boatmen

Pond Life of Brazos Bend State Park

Water Boatmen: Family Corixidae

Water Boatman 15 mm long

Water boatmen are frequently seen swimming on the top of the water, using their long legs as oars. Adult water boatmen are about 1 inch long with a narrow flattened body. They are usually dark in color, sometimes with a barred pattern on their backs. Their legs are flattened and equiped with hairs to enable them to function as paddles. Water boatmen breathe underwater by capturing air bubbles under their wings. They feed on tiny organisms at the bottom of the pond, and sometimes on plants. They are one of the few hemiptera that do not posses a piercing beak.

Water boatman mouthparts

Water boatmen resemble backswimmers. The most obvious difference is that water boatmen swim right-side-up, while backswimmers swim on their backs. Backswimmers also tend to be narrower, with smaller heads that water boatmen. Generally backswimmers swim only with their hind legs, while water boatmen use primarily the middle legs for swimming. One very important difference is that water boatmen do not bite, and backswimmers do.

Backswimmers

Water Scorpions

Updated: Sep 06, 2011

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The purpose of the Volunteer organization is to assist and educate the visitors of Brazos Bend State Park through information and interpretive programs and to assist in the care and conservation of the Park. Brazos Bend State Park 21901 FM 762 Needville, Texas 77461 979-553-5101