Water strider, home

The Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and John all relate similar versions of the famous story of Jesus walking on the turbulent water of the Sea of Galilee. It's presented as a miracle in the New Testament, and according to biomechanics researchers, it couldn't have occurred without divine intervention: a human simply weighs too much to be held aloft by the surface tension of the water's surface. But the so-called "Jesus bugs"—no sacrilege intended... this is simply one of the critter's common names—perform this miracle all the time, and with the appearance of the vernal pool amphibians, the surface of the vernal pools has suddenly become alive with Water Striders. These hemipterans, a.k.a. true bugs, are small and light enough to skate across the water and are aided in performing this "miracle" not by God but by water-repelling hairs on specially adapted legs. These tricks of the trade enable them to cruise ahead in their late-winter searches for mates and something to eat, usually spiders, insects, and other invertebrates.