Greater Water Boatman Notonecta glauca Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Hemiptera (bugs)	These creatures are powerful swimmers. They can also fly! Water Boatmen are "bugs". Bugs are a type of insect with a piercing and sucking mouth tube.
	Habitat	Water Boatmen live in freshwater ponds and lakes.
	Moving around	Greater Water Boatmen swim upside-down. They use their long, hair-fringed hind legs as paddles, they can also move between water bodies by using their wings to fly. When in the water, their wings are hidden - tucked away under the wing case.
	Feeding	They eat: Animals and plants. Greater Water Boatmen are mostly carnivorous. They often feed on prey larger than themselves such as frog and newt tadpoles and small fish. They also eat water fleas and mites. They suck out the body fluids of their prey. They also suck up particles of debris (including plants and algae) using their proboscis (tube-like mouth part) like a vacuum cleaner. They are eaten by: fish, newts and ducks.
	Reproduction	The development from egg to adult is through a process called incomplete metamorphosis. The eggs are laid singly attached to the stems of plants or fixed to the threads of floating algae. The larvae of the Greater Water Boatmen are white and green. They do not have wings.
	Breathing	When they are larvae, they breath through their outer coating.
	Size	Both Greater and Lesser Water Boatmen can grow up to 16 mm in length.
	Fun Fact	The adult water boatman can make a shrill noise by rubbing two of their legs together.