A Children's Guide To Aquatic Insects: M.S. in Entomology University of Minnesota

A
Children's Guide to Aquatic Insects
Created by Moriya Rufer
M.S. in Entomology
University of Minnesota
Illustration by Moriya Rufer
Aquatic insects play a major role in the aquatic ecosystem. They help break down and
decompose the dead material at the bottom of the lake such as leaves, dead fish, and other
organisms. They are also a major food source for fish, frogs, birds and other animals.
Without insects in the lake or stream, it wouldn't be a very nice place to fish or swim!
A Waterbug’s Life
Dragonflies, mosquitoes, midges, mayflies and many more insects live in the water during
their immature life stage (nymphs and larvae) and fly on land in their adult life stage. You
can think of the immature life stage and adult life stage as the equivalent of a caterpillar and
butterfly. Aquatic insects that live in the lake as larvae (caterpillars) often spend a year or
more in the water eating and growing before they are ready to fly away as adults. Whirligig
beetles, water boatmen, and water striders use the lake all their lives.
Dragonflies, for example, live in the water during their nymph life stage. They scoot around
on the bottom of the pond, eating minnows and other insects. Some of them become a tasty
meal to fish, frogs and birds. Those that survive crawl on land to molt into an adult
Dragonfly. When they molt, they leave their shed skins on vegetation, buildings and rocks.
The adult then flies away to begin its new life on land.
Dragonfly nymph Dragonfly shed skin Dragonfly adult

Photo credits: University of Minnesota Department of Entomology: Chironomidae Research Group and Insect Museum
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Mayflies (Ephemeroptera)
Mayfly nymphs Mayfly adults
Mayfly nymphs have hairy looking gills attached to their abdomen. This is how they
breathe under water. They also have 2 to 3 long tails extending from their back end. The
nymphs eat detritus and decomposing things at the bottom of lakes and streams. They are
also a favorite food for fish.
Mayfly adults have 2-3 tails extending from their back end as well. The two long limbs
sticking out the front are actually their front legs, not antennae. The male uses these legs to
hug the female. Mayfly adults also don’t have any mouths. They only live for one or two
days, so they don't need to eat anything!

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Damselflies and Dragonflies (Odonata)
Damselflies and Dragonflies are related to each other like cousins. They are both predators
and eat minnows, worms and other aquatic insects. They're mouth has an extension that
shoots out and catches minnows swimming by!
Damselfly nymphs Damselfly adults
Damselflies have long skinny bodies with gills that look like feathers coming out the back
end. This is how they breathe underwater.
The adults are very common flying around lakes and ponds. The adults look like they're
flying in crazy patterns because they actually catch and eat other bugs like mosquitoes while
flying in the air!

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Dragonfly nymphs Dragonfly adults
Dragonflies have shorter, stouter bodies with no visible gills. They breathe by sucking water
into their back end, absorbing the oxygen out of it, and then shooting the water back out
their back end. When they shoot water out their back end, it scoots them forward.
The adults are very common flying around lakes and ponds. The adults look like they're
flying in crazy patterns because they actually catch and eat other bugs like mosquitoes while
flying in the air!

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Backswimmers and Water Boatmen
Backswimmers and water boatmen look very similar to each other. The main difference is
that backswimmers swim on their back and water boatmen swim on their front.
Backswimmmers (Notonectidae)
Backswimmers do just that – they swim on their back! Their third pair of legs are much
longer than their front and middle legs. They use their back legs like oars to swim through
the water.
Water Boatmen (Corixidae)

Water boatmen look similar to backswimmers, but they swim on their front side. Their
second and third pair of legs are similar in length, and their back has pretty stripes and
speckled patterns.

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Giant Waterbug (Belostomatidae)
Giant water bugs can be very big - 1 to 3 inches long! They are voracious predators, and
bite their prey with a sharp beak. They have even been seen attacking minnows.
They are called toe-biters, because if you accidentally step on them in a pond they may bite
your toe. They usually stay away from humans in lakes though, so they shouldn't bother
you while swimming.

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Water Striders and Water Scorpians
Water Striders (Gerridae)

Water striders walk on top of the water. They have little hairs on their feet that repel water
and keep them on top of the surface. If soap or oil is added to the water, it makes the
surface of the water soft and the water strider is not able to stay on top anymore. It will fall
into the water and drown. This is why we should not bathe and shampoo our hair in the
lake.
Water Scorpians (Nepidae)

Water scorpions are vicious predators. They catch bugs, minnows and worms with their
long arms. They have a long, beak-like mouth to eat their prey. The long tube that sticks
out from their back end is their breathing tube. You can think of it like a straw. They hang
upside down in the water with the tube at the top of the water and breathe in air in through
it. When they dive down deeper into the water, they close the tube so no water gets in it.

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Water Beetles
Water beetles live in the water their whole life. They start out as a larva, and then molt into
an adult like butterflies do. The adults breathe in a unique way. They have a little air
bubble stuck to their belly that they breathe from. They come up to the top of the water
every few minutes to get more air into their bubble and then they dive back down
underwater.
Whirligig beetle adults have eyes both on top of their head and on the underneath part of
their head! This allows them to see both above and below water when they're floating on
top. Whirligig beetles swim in fast little circles at the top of the water.
Predacious diving beetle (Dytiscidae)

larvae adult
Whirligig beetle (Gyrinidae)

larvae adult
Water scavenger beetle (Hydrophilidae)

larvae adult

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Caddisflies (Trichoptera)
Caddisfly larvae Caddisfly adults
Caddisfly larvae build little houses for themselves out of sticks and stones. They use their
saliva as glue to hold their houses together. The houses give them protection from
predators.
Caddisfly adults look similar to moths, but their wings are usually held back over their body
instead of to the sides. If you see what you think are a bunch of tiny moths swarming
around on rocks by a lake, they're most likely caddisflies, not moths.
Caddisfly houses

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Aquatic Flies (Diptera)
Non-biting Midges (Chironomidae)

larvae adult
Non-biting midges look a lot like mosquitoes as adults, but they do not bite. They don't
have a long tube-like mouth attached their face for sucking blood.
Mosquitoes (Culicidae)
larvae adult
Most people are familiar with mosquitoes, but not everyone knows that they live in water as
larvae. The larvae like to live in stagnant water like ponds, puddles, and bird baths. They
have a long tube extending from their back end to breath air from the water's surface.
As adults, the females are the only ones that suck our blood. They need the blood for
nutrients for growing eggs. The males do not bite us, they drink nectar from plants.
Horse Flies (Tabanidae)

larvae adult
Horseflies can leave a nasty bite. Most people don't know that they live in the water as
larvae too. That is why you're most likely to get bit by a horsefly when you're in a boat or
near a lake.

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Illustration by Moriya Rufer

Dragonfly nymph Dragonfly shed skin Dragonfly adult

Created by Moriya Rufer

Mayfly nymphs Mayfly adults

Created by Moriya Rufer

Damselfly nymphs Damselfly adults

Created by Moriya Rufer

Created by Moriya Rufer

Water Boatmen (Corixidae)

Created by Moriya Rufer

Created by Moriya Rufer

Water Striders (Gerridae)

Water Scorpians (Nepidae)

Created by Moriya Rufer

Predacious diving beetle (Dytiscidae)

Whirligig beetle (Gyrinidae)

Water scavenger beetle (Hydrophilidae)

Created by Moriya Rufer

Created by Moriya Rufer

Non-biting Midges (Chironomidae)

Horse Flies (Tabanidae)

Created by Moriya Rufer

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