Water Boatman (Corixidae sp) (1/3)

Hemiptera: Corixidae

Corixidae sp  

While spending an evening at the edge of a remote sand dune in the middle of Murray-Sunset National Park, amongst the insects on the sand attracted to our light I was surprised to find quite a few Water Boatmen.

These are insects that one expects to find in water and here they were, many kilometres from any body of water, or even a puddle, in an arid mallee and spinifex environment.

I later read that Water Boatmen are actually excellent fliers, able to easily move from one water body to another.* Well that seems to be true. I'm very impressed, these insects are only a few millimetres long.

*Gooderham, John and Tsyrlin, Edward (2002). The Waterbug Book. CSIRO Publishing, p.150.