Greater Water Boatman
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Notonecta glauca
Common & widespread in Britain.
Females have a larger body size compared to Males.
Notonecta glauca supports itself under the water surface by using their front legs and mid legs and the back end of its abdomen and rest them on the water surface.
They use the hind legs as oars; these legs are fringed with hair and, when at rest, are extended laterally like a pair of sculls in a boat.
Notonecta glauca will either wait for its prey to pass by or will swim and actively hunt its prey.
When the weather is warm, usually in the late summer and autumn, they will fly between ponds.
Notonecta glauca reproduce in the spring.