DESCRIPTION:
Brownish, oval, flattened, about 45-60 mm (1-2inches). Front legs fitted for grasping prey, hind legs somewhat flattened for swimming. Wings at rest are held flat over the body. Forewings are thickened and leathery with membranous tips. The hind wings are membranous, fanlike and fold under the forewings when at rest. Mouth parts are fitted for piercing and sucking. Mandibles and maxillae present as long, slender stylets enclosed in a downward-projecting beak. Palps lacking.

GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE AND HABITAT:
Northern half of California. Common in ponds.

DIET:
Various insects and small vertebrates such as tadpoles, fish, snakes.

LIFE CYCLE/SOCIAL STRUCTURE:
Females lay eggs on aquatic vegetation.

SPECIAL ADAPTATIONS:
They have strap-like breathing appendages at the end of the abdomen. To obtain air, they raise the tip of the abdomen to the water surface and extend the two tail-like breathing tubes.

INTERPRETIVE INFORMATION:
Hemiptera are known as the True Bugs. The members described here belong to the suborder Heteroptera, nearly all of which may be recognized by the characteristic "X" on the back formed by the dissimilar parts of the folded wings. May leave water and fly about. Since they are often attracted to lights they are also known as the Electric Light Bug.

OUR ANIMALS:

STATUS IN WILD:
Not endangered.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. Internet: eNature (WWF).
2. Borror, Donald, And Richard White. Field Guide to the Insects of America North of Mexico. 1970. Houghton MifflinCo, Boston, MA.
3. Lehmkuhl, Dennis. How to Know the Aquatic Insects. 1979.Wm C. Brown Co.
4. Powell, Jerry and Charles Hogue. California Insects. 1979. University of California Press. Berkeley, CA.