Tweeters:

Bird migration seems really late up at Tiny's Land in n. Lake Stevens (not a
single warbler or flycatcher this last sunny, warm weekend), but hey, we too
have been doing well on Giant Waterbugs:

We've had two Giant Waterbug encounters at Cedar Field baseball games in
Marysville since late March, this last one on Tuesday, 18 April. In both
cases the insects were attracted by the powerful night lights shining down
on the field. This last Tuesday's bug won the attention of fans by (a)
getting caught in the foul ball netting behind the catcher, then (b)
dropping right onto home plate and thus winning a sportcaster's announcement
(!), adding flavor to the 6-0 win of Dick's Towing over MPOA.

Amazingly, no one killed the bug and after the game I carefully picked it up
so the boys and two pals could enjoy up close. But watch out--the bug tried
hard to use its hind legs to break free and maneuver my fingers into
position for--The Bite. Likeness on initial impression to cockroaches has
been mentioned; several fans guessed as much. But one Tweeters observer
mentioned mandibles--the Giant Waterbug has an intimidating single sucking
mouthpart, not mandibles (the aquatic insect so memorable for sucking
mandibles is in fact the water tiger, an equally ferocious predator, the
larvae of predacious diving beetles). This waterbug is one behemoth of a
true bug, about 2.5-3" long, with enlarged forearms for grabbing prey,
powerful hind legs with cilia for swimming, and peculiar prominent black
eyes. When caught, the waterbug raises its forearms skyward, ready to grab,
much like a crab. Such an unlikely creature, like something out of a Harry
Potter movie, one son noted.

Like water tigers, the Giant Waterbugs are famous for attacking live prey
like tadpoles, various other insects, small frogs or salamanders, and even
small fish. Both are known to inject chemicals into their victims that
render drinking the victims' body juices thereafter easier, and are known to
occasionally attack prey larger than themselves.

Some have mentioned the abundance of waterbugs in the south. In New Port
Richie, FL, there was a news event last year (?) when hordes of the water
bugs converged on night lights in one spooked neighborhood. I noticed many
dead individuals at gas stations near Orlando last year myself. I've noted
that both Giant Waterbugs and large diving beetles will come to pools left
alone for a lfew days while down in Texas-Louisiana; unfortunate encounters
with the former are the apparent origin of another common name for the Giant
Waterbug, the "Toe-Biter". It hasn't happened to me yet, but I had a near
miss with three diving beetles a couple weeks ago.

Scott Atkinson
Lake Stevens
mail to: scottratkinson at hotmail.com