Sea Skater
Halobates sp. maybe H Zephyrus.
Family: Gerridae
Order: Hemiptera
This was one of several dozens of Sea Skaters in a breeding aggregation in a saltwater pool at Cullendulla on the New South Wales South Coast, Australia.
Some members of this genus are ocean travellers and five species can be found far out to sea, apparently travelling on ocean currents over long distances.
The Halobates species can neither swim nor fly, and unlike freshwater Gerridae pond striders, they are permanently wingless. They therefore exist in a two-dimensional world on the water surface. They have a very hydrophobic body that helps them survive in this unlikely niche they have carved out for themselves. They can effortlessly run across the water surface at high speed (up to 1 metre per second) without slipping, and can easily leap free of the water at will. No doubt the hydrophobic properties of their cuticle and hairs on the legs is a central part of the mechanism for doing this, but it is not fully understood (Cheng, 1985).
This marine family may be exposed to the sun without shade every day. Their cuticle is highly resistant to UV light and, in one species, has been shown able to block out 99.9998% of the UV radiation at 280nm. The chemical and physical structures that convey this property have not been fully explained. In a possibly related phenomenon, the species in the photo appears to be black in full sunlight but, in shade, the cuticle appears to be blue!
The oceanic species lay their eggs on floating debris such as cuttlebone and feathers. They may be winners in the Anthropocene because they are happy to seize the opportunity to lay eggs on floating plastic. This is now in such abundance, that the sea skater numbers may be benefiting from the additional breeding habitat. It remains to be seen if any explosion in their numbers, because of plastic waste, will have any unforeseen consequences in the marine ecosystem. However an abundance would be a boon to the many birds and fish that feed on the skaters.
References
Cheng, L. (1985). Biology of halobates (heteroptera: Gerridae). Annual review of entomology, 30(1), 111-135.
Cheng, L., & Mishra, H. (2022). Why did only one genus of insects, Halobates, take to the high seas?. PLoS Biology, 20(4), e3001570.
My blog on the Ausemade website:
ausemade.com.au/blog/halobates-sea-skaters/
DSC04587 focus 1_DSC04589 focus 3 PS TZ
Sea Skater
Halobates sp. maybe H Zephyrus.
Family: Gerridae
Order: Hemiptera
This was one of several dozens of Sea Skaters in a breeding aggregation in a saltwater pool at Cullendulla on the New South Wales South Coast, Australia.
Some members of this genus are ocean travellers and five species can be found far out to sea, apparently travelling on ocean currents over long distances.
The Halobates species can neither swim nor fly, and unlike freshwater Gerridae pond striders, they are permanently wingless. They therefore exist in a two-dimensional world on the water surface. They have a very hydrophobic body that helps them survive in this unlikely niche they have carved out for themselves. They can effortlessly run across the water surface at high speed (up to 1 metre per second) without slipping, and can easily leap free of the water at will. No doubt the hydrophobic properties of their cuticle and hairs on the legs is a central part of the mechanism for doing this, but it is not fully understood (Cheng, 1985).
This marine family may be exposed to the sun without shade every day. Their cuticle is highly resistant to UV light and, in one species, has been shown able to block out 99.9998% of the UV radiation at 280nm. The chemical and physical structures that convey this property have not been fully explained. In a possibly related phenomenon, the species in the photo appears to be black in full sunlight but, in shade, the cuticle appears to be blue!
The oceanic species lay their eggs on floating debris such as cuttlebone and feathers. They may be winners in the Anthropocene because they are happy to seize the opportunity to lay eggs on floating plastic. This is now in such abundance, that the sea skater numbers may be benefiting from the additional breeding habitat. It remains to be seen if any explosion in their numbers, because of plastic waste, will have any unforeseen consequences in the marine ecosystem. However an abundance would be a boon to the many birds and fish that feed on the skaters.
References
Cheng, L. (1985). Biology of halobates (heteroptera: Gerridae). Annual review of entomology, 30(1), 111-135.
Cheng, L., & Mishra, H. (2022). Why did only one genus of insects, Halobates, take to the high seas?. PLoS Biology, 20(4), e3001570.
My blog on the Ausemade website:
ausemade.com.au/blog/halobates-sea-skaters/
DSC04587 focus 1_DSC04589 focus 3 PS TZ