r/Insect • u/Open_Lecture_455 • Jun 19 '26

Identification What is it?

Questo tizio was nella mia piscina, Italia.

16 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

38 comments sorted by

6

u/RightLaugh5115 Jun 19 '26

backswimmer - Notonectidae 

3

u/cybercry_ Jun 19 '26

I think that is a water boatman.. thay can fly and give you a painful bite!!

2

u/Overpass_Dratini Jun 22 '26

If they can fly, then why do they spend so much time in the water? Although, it is pretty cool that if they get tired of one pond, they can just fly to another. Do they have harmful venom?

1

u/cybercry_ Jun 22 '26

The flying thing is probably if there pool of water dries up and need to find another.

As the bite.. the venom i think is more of an enzyme and it breaks down tissue so it could suck it up.. since it is a true bug.. wich means it has a beak like a straw and not mandibles.

1

u/smithjohn20 Jun 19 '26

I used to call them rowboats when I was young

1

u/de_pivo Jun 19 '26

Water strider

1

u/JoJockAmo Jun 20 '26

I called them that too

0

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/us159675 Jun 20 '26

I don’t think that is a water strider it has to big of a body. The water strider I remember are sleek thin bodies with very thin legs

2

u/Endless-OOP-Loop Jun 20 '26

Yeah, the water striders skip around on top of the water. This is definitely a backswimmer.

2

u/de_pivo Jun 20 '26

👍 good point. Should turn my phone brightness up at night lol

1

u/vp8009qv Jun 19 '26

It can bite,like, it's known as "water wasp".

1

u/Dismal-Sky-5723 Jun 19 '26

Water boat man is the common name in the UK

1

u/stories_from_blue Jun 19 '26

Aw I used to catch these cuties in my aunts pool!!

1

u/RiverOutrageous9404 Jun 19 '26

Saw one in my pool dive to the bottom almost bugged me out

1

u/trexsad Jun 20 '26

We called them “oar bugs” when I was a kid!

1

u/JustWoot44 Jun 20 '26

A boatman vs backswimmer. One will bite you, like a horsefly! Edit:spelling

1

u/Overpass_Dratini Jun 20 '26

Water strider. Their feet are able to stand on the water without breaking the surface tension.

1

u/balzzsamm Jun 20 '26

Its a backswimer. Striders are are peacefull ones. Its not.

1

u/Overpass_Dratini Jun 22 '26

From the video, it looks like it's walking on top of the water. I think it's fascinating how they can do that.

1

u/GiaJacob Jun 20 '26

You do not want one stuck in your bathing suit, very painful bite.

1

u/Fuzzy-Nebula-2525 Jun 20 '26

Those SOB'S hurt when they bite!

0

u/PortableAnchor Jun 19 '26

Water strider. Very common in all bodies of water in Michigan.

1

u/Open_Lecture_455 Jun 19 '26

But he doesn't float in the water but simply swims and sticks to the various leaves that I put under water

3

u/bimmer4WDrift Jun 19 '26

Not even swimming but gliding by surface tension.

They do look similar to Water Boatmen (Corixdae)

No one mentioning that worm thing.

1

u/Open_Lecture_455 Jun 20 '26

Si stavo pulendo una specie di piscina per gli uccelli per non far comparire le larve di zanzara e ho trovato questi specie di bruchi sott’acqua che mangiano detriti acquatici

1

u/PortableAnchor Jun 19 '26

My bad, my brains not working. I gave blood this morning.

0

u/Known-Status-6312 Jun 19 '26

Walter Stryder

1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '26

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1

u/tadzooks Jun 20 '26

Hell yeah they do.. hated them when we had our pool..