Alien life forms! Well, aquatic insects...

A Walk around the Pond: Insects in and over the Water

by Gilbert Waldbauer

As the title says, it's a tour of life as an aquatic insect, written by an
entomologist. Beautifully illustrated (I only wish there were more! A few
diagrams might have been useful) by Meredith Waterstraat. Most aquatic insects
live in freshwater (or salt marshes near the ocean) rather than in the oceans,
where the ecological niches seem to be filled by crustaceans and such, so
it's really a walk around the pond, streams, swamps, rivers, tree holes,
puddles, inside water-filled plants, and other spaces one might not immediately
think of.

Insects live on such a different scale from humans that they are almost an
alien life form, as far as our intuitions and expectations are concerned.
The water is less turbulent, and surface tension is a major factor.
Everything: how they move, how they breathe, and how they eat, hunt,
and reproduce is strange (from the human point of view).


Waldbauer has a chapter on each aspect of aquatic insect life, starting
with a "cast of characters" introducing us to each of the orders found
in the water. Many insects only live in the water for one phase of their
existence (usually the larval and nymphal stages). The discrete changes
in insects from one form to another is in itself startling to a human. (We
keep our infants close by, and feed them our food!)

Highly recommended.