This Is Why Water Striders Make Terrible Lifeguards

They may look serene as they glide across the surface of a stream, but don't be fooled by water striders. They're actually searching for prey for whom a babbling brook quickly becomes an inescapable death trap.

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  Water striders are about a half-inch long with a thin body and three sets of legs. The water strider'ssecret is its legs.

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 Their lives on the water's surface make them easy for even a young child to observe. Last week, my two-year-old 

 Water strider. Water strider, also called pond skater or skimmer, any insect of the family Gerridae (order Heteroptera), which numbers about 350 species