There you are. A hot summer day, the water in your backyard swimming pool has warmed to a comfortable level, and you have the opportunity to just float around on an air mattress with your legs dangling in the water to keep you just cool enough. You are relaxed, you are getting drowsy……and suddenly something crawls on your leg - UNDER THE WATER!! So much for that quiet, cozy mood you were forming.

How on earth could bugs get into your swimming pool? They certainly didn't come from the garden hose. They didn't swim in from the filter. But there they are, swimming around on or in your backyard pool, looking for all the world like they belong in the water. Well, that's because they do. They probably are some of the many kinds of insects that live in water, a habitat we refer to as "aquatic", and just because they find their livelihood in the water does not necessarily mean that they are restricted to that environment. In fact, many of the species are excellent fliers once they reach the adult insect stage.

There are two principal groups of aquatic insects:

  1. Beetles - water scavenger beetles, predaceous diving beetles, whirligig beetles, and some more obscure kinds.
  2. Bugs - water striders, backswimmers, water boatmen, and giant water bugs (lovingly given the nickname of "toe biters")

All of these insects I have just mentioned are predators, feeding primarily on other insects that either live in the water with them, or accidentally fall into it. Just like the fish that swims slowly along, one eye on the surface of the water in case a bug lands on it, so are the insects always watching for their next meal. They still must breathe air, and thus make regular trips to the surface to replenish this need, but they can spend most of their time underwater, often hiding under rocks on the bottom in an effort to keep from becoming, themselves, a food source for the larger predators around them.

Since most of these aquatic insects are equipped with well developed wings, they can fly. The reason for leaving the comfort of their pond or creek is probably the instinct that most animals have to disperse, expanding their range to ensure their species survives. Some of these critters like to fly at night, and may be attracted to porch lights or reflections of light off your pool, and they home in on this potential new habitat.

Other species are day-flyers, and it again is the reflection of the shimmering water that draws them to your pool. In fact, any shiny reflection may signal "Water!" to them, as they fly by, and down they dive. You may frequently find some of these poor bugs laying dead on your car on a hot summer day, victims of the deception of your shiny paint job and a fry-pan hot metal as they dive onto it.