Water Beetles

Beetles are differentiated from bugs by having the first pair of wings developed into armored shields, which protect the second pair of wings and the soft body. They can still fly with their second pair of wings, which fold up out of sight when not in use. Only adults are shown here.

Water Scavenger Beetle

Water Scavenger Beetle
Hydrophilus triangularis
to 1.3"

Adults feed mainly on plant matter; larvae are carnivorous. Other diving beetles are predatory.



Whirligig Beetle

Whirligig Beetle
Dineutes spp.
to 1/2"

Whirligigs are generally found skating along the surface, although they are also good divers and fliers.


Speargun

There are essentially two choices of weapon for spearfishing: pole spears and spearguns. The speargun is probably the first thing that comes to mind for most readers - conjuring up images of Seahunt, James Bond, and countless other TV shows and movies. Everyone knows what a speargun looks like - a roughly pistol-shaped device that fires a two-foot steel dart. Everyone probably also has a pretty good idea what a pole spear looks like, but an underwater pole spear is a different in form and use from a terrestrial javelin. Rather than throwing it ( which would be difficult to impossible underwater ) a pole spear ( or "Hawaiian sling" ) has a loop of rubber tubing at the butt end that is used to launch it directly from the hand, the shaft sliding through the loosened hand without ever leaving it.

Printed from njscuba.net