Unravelling mate choice mysteries: Using water striders, Malik et al. show how analyzing multiple traits across mating stages reveals which sex truly controls copulation.

Read here!
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/737900

#WaterStriders #MateChoice #EEB

Ripple Bugs

Ripple bugs are a type of water strider capable of moving at a blazing fast 120 body lengths per second across the water surface. In addition to their speed, ripple bugs are incredibly agile and are active almost constantly. Researchers believe they’ve found the insect’s secret: feather-like hydrophilic fans that spread on contact with the water. These fans help the insects push off the water and steer, but they require no effort to open and close. They’ve even adapted the technique to bio-inspired robots and seen improvements in speed, agility, and efficiency. (Video credit: Science; research credit: V. Ortega-Jimenez et al.)

A Water Strider, genus Limnometra, spotted at Thomson Nature Park, Singapore on 22 Dec 2024. Commonly found in water bodies in forests, their swift motions don't make it easy to get shots.

On iNaturalist [ https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/255849611 ].

#iNaturalist #Nature #Photography #Singapore #Insects #TrueBugs #Hemiptera #WaterStriders #Gerridae

#Amber reveals mating behavior of #cretaceous water striders https://phys.org/news/2024-04-amber-reveals-behavior-cretaceous-striders.html

Group mating in Cretaceous water striders https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2023.2546

"#Gerromorpha includes #WaterStriders and their relatives that are conspicuously adapted to motion, feeding, and mating on the water surface... Based on a comprehensive analysis of the #fossils, the researchers revealed the mating behavior and potential sexual conflicts of #Cretaceous water striders."