Water Scorpion @ mites - D40X - 5-27-09 by Leeco
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Description
This is a new insect for me. It is a True Bug - a Water Scorpion. It uses the front 2 legs to capture small fish, tadpoles, etc. It punctures them with a feeding tube and injects a enzyme that sedates them and dissolves their innards. This is an immature one because the wings have barely begun to form. This insect does fly as an adult but it spends almost all of its life in the water. The long "needle" at the tail end, is actually two siphon tubes it extends to the surface to breath with.
The red dots on it are some species of mite. I have seen similar ones on Dragonflies.
I was laying on my stomach at the edge of my pond with my upper body as far over the edge as possible. The water was about 2' lower than my waist and legs.
I was trying to get a shot of a whole bunch of Damselflies mating about 3 foot or so from the shore but I could never get a usable shot. The steep angle I was shooting from made it impossible to get a straight on shot from anywhere and that was creating bad DOF problems with the subjects.
As I lay there frustrated, I noticed something moving in the water directly below me. I managed to get just one shot. I captured this critter swimming a few millimeters below the surface of the water. A wet April and May supplied plenty of water in the pond right now and some grassy areas are submerged so everything you see in this image is underwater.
I also got lucky with the sunlight. This edge of the pond was dappled with shade. I was really lucky that the bug swam through a sunny spot in shallow water with me sitting there - camera in hand.
I have two more new bugs to show coming next.
Thanks to those who take the time to comment.
Lee
Comments (7)
Katraz
Great shot, bugs on bugs.
praep
We've got many of bugs look like this one here in the summer. Well done shot.
LadyRembrandt
What a cool shot....makes me shiver....but a cool shot, especially the mites
durleybeachbum
FABULOUS, Lee! Great shot and such fascinating info.
GBCalls
Very cool! Always exciting to get a photo unexpectedly.
bpclarke
Very cool capture.
CavalierLady
Great shot and very unique, love those mites, great find!