THEY live where air and water meet. Appearing on stream, pool, lake and slow-moving river, where they scavenge the bodies of the dying and the dead, they are the neuston, a category of insect classified in 1917 by Swedish limnologist Einar Naumann. Their appearance and features—let alone their name—might suggest mysterious aliens in a science-fiction television series, but they are both real and truly remarkable.
In their most familiar form, we know them as water skaters, water skimmers, water striders, water skippers or pond skaters; in southern states of the US, they are irreverently known as Jesus bugs. They seem to be the least feasible of life forms, existing in sheer defiance of the concept of material reality: if you walk on water, you sink—but not this neuston. Ugly, skinny and long-legged Gerris lacustris may be, but the common water skater conquers the laws of Nature. It does this by growing thousands of tiny, grooved, wax-covered hairs that prevent the ingress of water, an attribute described by science as epipleustonic.
The insect’s short front legs are employed for holding prey, which its powerful mouthparts pierce and suck. Its other four legs spread its slight weight and use the surface tension of water, that invisible layer where hydrogen atoms in the H2O molecules create a web of attachment, causing a net inward force that resists surface breakage in one of the most extraordinary dynamic balances to be found in the natural world. The legs are so buoyant that they can sustain 15 times the insect’s weight, even in rainy or choppy conditions.
Denne historien er fra May 18, 2022-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra May 18, 2022-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
