Dedicated followers of my blog will know that I have a bit of a thing about the names people call commonly seen insects around the World. Who can forget the Wheat Dolphin, the Alder Warbler, the Hairy Winged Water Butterflies and the great Thrips debate? You may also recall that I am writing a book, the deadline for which is fast approaching. I am also a first-class procrastinator and being just about to start the chapter on aquatic insects which is proving to be a bit more challenging than I thought it would be, found myself heading straight into procrastinator mode 🙂
I have always found Gerrids* fascinating, their ability to skim across the surface of ponds and streams, and to dodge my childhood attempts to catch them bare handed along with the painful discovery, that, like any insect with a piercing mouthpart, they can ‘sting’ 🙂 Although not as exciting as aphids 🙂 Gerrids have some interesting facets to their biology and ecology. They have short- and long-winged forms (Fairbairn, 1988), use ‘ripple communication’ to attract mates (Hayashi, 1985) and some species show territorial behaviour and mate guarding (Arnqvist, 1988). Even more fascinating, and something I didn’t’ discover until I was in my early forties and swimming off the coast of Mauritius (work, not holiday), that although 90% of Gerrids are freshwater dwellers, there are forty species within the genus Halobates, the Sea and Ocean Skaters, five of which are truly marine. The naturalist Johann von Eschscholtz first discovered them during his voyage on the Russian expeditionary ship Rurik between 1815 and 1818. I hope that when I get round to finishing my book you will be able to read more about them. In the meantime, more details can be found in the key references listed at the end of this article.
My previous excursions into global insect names have involved my own limited language skills, Google Translate and direct emails to friends from around the World. This time I thought I would give the Twitter community a chance to display their collective wisdom. I was not disappointed. Within 48 hours of posting my request for help, had an excellent collection of names, including dialectal variations, which I would never have come across otherwise. The majority of the names, as you might expect, refer to the ability that Gerrids have of walking or skating on water, so much so that in parts of North America they are known as Jesus Bugs. More surprising, are the references to tailors and shoemakers and measuring. This could have its roots in the way in which before the invention of tape measures, cloth merchants and tailors measured lengths of fabric using yardsticks or by extending their arms and holding the cloth from hand to shoulder, which could be seen to resemble the way in which Pond Skaters moved their legs. That said, in the UK, the name, water measurer is reserved for members of the Hydrometridae. Some confusion or overlap also occurred with Water Boatmen, in the USA, the Corixids, in the UK, the backswimmers, Notonecta. Corixids have paddle shaped legs and swim, while backswimmers, also with paddles, swim upside down. True Pond Skaters, the Gerrids, move across the water surface, they really do walk on water.
Finally, here, mainly from Europe, are the results. If anyone has more languages to add please do so in the comments.
Afrikaans Waterloper – water walker
Arabic بركة متزلج barakat mutazalij – no idea but looks pretty 🙂
Bulgarian водомерка Vodomеrka (voda = water, mеrka = measure)
Canadian Water skeeters, Jesus Bugs
Czech Vodoměrka (voda = water, měř = measure)
Danish Skøjteløbere – which word by word translates to skater-runners but simply means skaters
Dutch Schaatsenrijders – skaters.
Finnish Vesimittari =water measurer; mittari is also the Finnish name for Geometridae moths, such as winter moth = hallamittari = frost measurer
Flemish Schrijvertje, little writer.
French Araignée d’eau, also Patineur, which is also the name used for an ice skater! Derived from « Patin » which is an ice skate. In the local language of South-Eastern France, le provençal. It is called Lou courdounié, that means “the shoe maker” (cordonnier in French). Apparently, the movement of their legs is reminiscent of the way in which shoemakers work
Galician Zapateiro, shoe maker, but also costureira, dress maker, pita cega, blind hen, and cabra cega, blind goat
German Wasserläufer, water runners. In some parts of Germany, the colloquial term is Schneider or Wasserschneider, water tailor
Hungarian Molnárpoloskák, where molnár = miller and poloskák = Heteroptera
Italian Ragni d’acqua, directly translates as water spiders
Latin Tippula – water walker, very light – see this extract from Ian Beavis’ book
Polish Nartnik wodny. Nartnik is a derivation of narciarz meaning skier; wodny means associated with water.
Portuguese Alfaiate, tailor
Russian Vodomerki (водомерки), = water measurers
Spanish The “official” name in Spanish seems to be “guérridos” (from its Latin name, Gerris lacustrae), but more commonly called zapateros, shoe makers. Patinador de estanque skater of ponds, also chinche de agua, watert bug, cucaracha de agua, water flea, saltacharcos (?), limpia aguas Tapaculos, clean water Tapaculos in southern Spain’s Spanish. Any clues on the etymology of the last two gratefully received.
Swedish Skräddare , tailor, because their leg-motions look like scissors cutting. Also known as vattenlöpare, water-runners.
Tamil நீர்தாண்டி (neerthaandi); neer means water and thandi is akin to crossing/crosser, so water crosser would be the closest direct translation. It may be an overactive imagination, but to me the first character looks like someone skating 🙂
Welsh Rhiain y dwr, Lords of the water but also hirheglyn y dŵr, water long-legs
Many thanks to all those who responded to my Twitter request, it was very much appreciated.
References
Arnqvist, G. (1988) Mate guarding and sperm displacement in the water strider Gerris lateralis Schumm. (Heteroptera: Gerridae). Freshwater Biology, 19,269-274.
Cheng, L. (1985) Biology of Halobates (Heteroptera: Gerridae). Annual Review of Entomology, 30, 111-135.
Fairbairn, D.J. (1988) Adaptive significance of wing dimorphism in the absence of dispersal: a comparative study of wing morphs in the waterstrider Gerris remigis. Ecological Entomology, 13, 273-281.
Hayashi, K. (1985) Alternative mating strategies in the water strider Gerris elongntus (Heteroptera, Gerridae). Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology, 16, 301-306.
Spence, J.R. & Anderson, N.M. (1994) Biology of water striders: interactions between systematics and ecology. Annual Review of Entomology, 39, 101-128.
*Gerrids are true bugs, Hemiptera, which are characterised by the possession of piercing and sucking mouthparts.
Many thanks to all those who responded to my Twitter request, it was very much appreciated.
Don't Forget the Roundabouts 