Morung Express News
Dimapur | March 17
A new species of water strider have been discovered in Nagaland. Scientists from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) discovered the new species named, 'Ptilomera nagalanda Jehamalar and Chandra’ from Intangki River in Peren district. The species is named after Nagaland state.
The discovery was published on January issue of Zootaxa, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, jointly written by E. Eyarin Jehamalar, Kailash Chandra, Srimoyee Basu & C. Selvakumar of Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata.
Water striders, also called pond skater or skimmer, any insect of the family Gerridae (order Heteroptera), are small insects that are adapted for life on top of still water, using surface tension to their advantage so they can “walk on water.”
About a half-inch long with a thin body and three sets of legs, the water strider's secret is its legs. The legs have tiny hairs that repel water and capture air. By repelling water, the tiny water striders stand on the water’s surface and the captured airs allows them to float and move easily.
Scientists working on the water striders say that their presence serves as an indicator of water quality and they are found on water surface, The Hindu reported.
The new species can be clearly recognized from all the known congeners from India by the absence of curly, intertwined dark brown to black swimming setae on the flexor region of the mid femur and the presence of silvery setae on the sublateral region of the meso- and metanota of the male, the authors noted.
“Orange with black stripes on the dorsal side and a pale yellowish brown ventral part of the body, this particular species has long slender legs and measures about 11.79 mm,” a co-author Eyarin Jehamalar told the national daily. The presence of black stripes on the dorsal side differentiates this species from other known species of the subgenus Ptilomera. So far, only five species of water striders under the subgenus Ptilomera were known in India.
These includes Ptilomera assamensis found in northeastern India, Ptilomera agriodes found in peninsular India, Pltilomera occidentalis from Uttarakhand, Ptilomera laticaudata, northern and northeastern India, and Ptilomera tigrina found in the Andaman islands.
With the discovery of Ptilomera nagalanda the number of species of water striders belonging to the subgenus has increased to six.
The uniqueness of Ptilomera is that they are only found in rocky, fast flowing streams and rivers that are not exposed to a lot of sunlight. Ptilomera has hair on the middle legs that help the insects resist the strong current of streams, The Hindu report said. The front legs are relatively shorter than the mid and hind legs and used to catch and hold prey. The striders possess needle-like mouth parts that are used for sucking the juice of prey.
Other than being a good indicator of water quality, water striders also play an important role in the food chain by feeding on mosquito larvae, it added.
There are nearly 100 species of water striders found in India across different water bodies such as open ocean, ponds, pools, lakes, rivers, streams etc.
