The water’s surface is a boundary between two worlds and only a few creatures navigate is as skillfully as the backswimmers (family: Notonectidae), who have mastered life right in between. Life on the Upside Down These small freshwater insects live right at this thin line, just beneath the surface, upside down. Special hair covering their […]

What insect can swim, fly – and hunt frogs?   In this edition of Tiny but Mighty, we introduce another small but fierce freshwater predator: the diving beetle!  Diving beetles (family: Dytiscidae) are true multitalents of the freshwater world. You can usually spot them in ponds and shallow lakes, but these remarkably versatile insects are […]

A series of Tiny but Mighty Freshwater ecosystems are full of life. We tend to notice the obvious residents first: fish darting through reeds, frogs calling from pond edges, or we catch the splash of a beaver’s tail.  But beneath the surface lies a far richer, and largely unseen world, powered by tiny yet mighty […]