TO-DAY’S NATURE NOTE

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 111, 4 February 1935, Page 8

TO-DAY’S NATURE NOTE

Carnivorous Water Beetles A resident of Manakau county found in one of his water-tanks this season.expert swimmers between half an inch and three-quarters of an inch long, wedgeshaped, six-legged, equipped with formidable jaws. These can be opened wide to grab small aquatic creatures, aqd closed again in front of the head. “Taken ont"”of the water, they are active little customers,” the correspondent writes. “They make a determined effort to defend themselves. They elimb up a few rungs of the tank, as if to get air, and then go back into the water.” The creatures are carnivorous water-beetles in the grub stage. They are notoriously active, rapacious and ferocious. As grubs and as perfect insects water-beetles swim swiftly, and spend most of their time under the surface, but they must have air, and they go to the surface to breathe. An adult takes in air at the end of its body, and stores a reserve supply under its wingcovers. A grub takes in air through breathing-holes in its body, but it does not store air, and it rises to the surface frequently to breathe! Adults are equally at home in water and in air. An adult is shiny, oval and smooth. It may leave the water and fly to a fresh piece of water, helping to disperse the species.— J. Drummond. F.L.S.. F.Z.S.