Water boatmen are different from many aquatic insects because the young insects look pretty much like the adults. They usually spend their whole life in and around the water, living anywhere that the water is calm.
Their back legs act like oars and you can often see them “rowing” through the water.
Water boatmen have mouths like little straws that they stick into plants. They can also little bits of food, such as tiny plants and insects.
Water boatmen are quite tolerant of water pollution.
Cool Fact:
Water boatmen breath by using a homemade scuba tank.
They trap an air bubble in the tiny hairs on their stomach and carry this with them when they swim underwater. When the bubble is used up, they return to the surface for more.