Water Tiger


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	Water Tiger A week and a half ago, I noticed this little critter swimming through a puddle of tadpoles in our floodplain. The insect was translucent and hard to see (and very hard to photograph), but its manner of swimming using all six legs was distinct enough to catch my attention. Every so often, it paused in its flight and drifted to the surface, letting its tail break the boundary between water and air and suck oxygen down into its body. I finally stumbled across information about the Giant Diving Beetle and its larval form, called the Water Tiger, on the Royal Alberta Museum's website. I've included their photograph, which is a thousand times better than mine, so that you can get an idea of what the insect really looked like. It turns out that my beautiful, elegant critter is a cold-blooded killer. Here's what the Museum has to say about the Water Tiger: The larvae have jaws like hypodermic needles that allow them to inject digestive enzymes into their prey. These enzymes dissolve the body tissues and the water tiger sucks up the resulting liquid. Yikes! I guess those tadpoles aren't as safe as they thought they were in their vernal pool. Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed. RSS Thermonectus instead of Dysticus I just got an ID back from an expert at Bugguide.net that this is actually in a related genus --- Thermonectus. Thermonectus also contains predatory water beetles, and these are especially known for eating mosquito larvae. No wonder we aren't terribly bothered by biting bugs despite living next door to a swamp! Comment by anna — Sat Aug 7 08:55:03 2010 Remove comment Add a comment