Common backswimmer
The common backswimmer is a water bug that swims upside down. It rows through the water with its long, hairy back legs, like a little boat with oars. It hangs just under the surface of ponds, waiting for something to eat.
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Fun facts
It hangs under the water surface, held up by its legs and tail end touching the surface.
It has no gills. It carries a thin silvery coat of air around its body when it dives.
It feels ripples on the water and can tell the waves of its prey from the waves of other backswimmers.
On warm days in late summer and autumn, it flies from pond to pond.
Its eyes work well both in bright daylight and at night.
Most asked questions about Common backswimmer
?Why does the backswimmer swim upside down?
It lives and rests on its back just under the water surface, rowing with its hairy back legs.
?How big is the common backswimmer?
It is about 13 to 16 millimetres long. Females are a bit bigger than males.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Notonecta glauca
- Group
- True bugs and cicadas
- Family
- Notonectidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hemiptera > Notonectidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia
- Also known as
- Greater water boatman
Where the facts come from
- Notonecta glauca (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Holger Gröschl. CC BY-SA 2.0 de, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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