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Jan 26, 2013

A bug that can walk on water

Water Striders can walk on water as easily as we walk on sidewalk. How? Water has a kind of skin, called surface tension, on which the Water Strider can walk.

Water Strider is the common name applied to slender water bug  that is a predator on other insects. It lives on the surface of quiet waters—some species are adapted for life on faster-moving streams—and darts about with great rapidity, using the middle pair of legs as paddles and the hind pair for steering. The front pair of legs is adapted for grasping prey. Fine, dense hairs on the feet keep the insect from breaking the water's surface film. (Adapted from ‘Science Challenge’, and Encarta Encyclopedia’)