Water Striders

Found these water striders in a wet area of the swamp. They are doing their "spring" thing. If you click on the picture, it will become larger and you can see the dimples on the surface tension of the water made by their legs. Their legs are covered w/ small hairs which resist becoming wet. Add oil or detergent to the water and the striders would sink. The dark spots to the left and bottom of the picture are the strider's shadows. The reason the shadows glow bright around the edges ... guess we can save that physics lesson for another time.