Needle Bug
Golden-shouldered Backswimmer
S5, profile
| Needle Bug | | Golden-shouldered Backswimmer S5, profile | | ||
 | Class: | Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) | |||
| Order: | True Bugs (Hemiptera) | ||||
| Family: | Backswimmer (Nepomorpha: Notonectidae) iNaturalist Observation | ||||
| Species: | Golden-shouldered Backswimmer (Anisops cf deanei) | ||||
| This Photo: | 🔍S5, dorsal🔎 | ||||
Thank you Dr Matthew Pintar for confirming the id of this species for us General Species Information: Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere ~6mm long It can be difficult to determine, but the back legs are covered in long hairs that look a bit like fins when they swim. They serve the same purpose. Matthew said "Maybe but these really need closer inspection to verify" Further we asked Matthew why we were seeing them in our area, being semi-arid and no sitting water for kms it seemed strange they'd land here. We suggested they fly high up in the rain clouds and saw our roof and interpretted as a lake. In response Matthew said "Yes, they can be attracted to the polarization of light off of flat shiny surfaces when they fly at night". This would also explain why we found them on the newer attached shed roof, but not on the older (~7 year old) house roof. | |||||
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