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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Aquatic Bugs (Nepomorpha) » Nepoidea » Waterscorpions (Nepidae) » Ranatra
Photo#77585
Walking Stick - Ranatra
Copyright © 2006 Jody

Walking Stick - Ranatra
Washago, Ramona Fairgrounds, Ramara Township, Ontario, Canada
September 16, 2006
Size: Close to 5 inches
Found this guy hitching a ride on a hotrod at the Ramona Fall Fair. Very Cool.
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Contributed by Jody on 16 September, 2006 - 8:41pm
Last updated 2 May, 2007 - 5:00am

Moved
Moved from Waterscorpions.
… Boris Büche, 2 May, 2007 - 5:00am login or register to post comments

That's a Water Scorpion,
likely Ranatra fusca, the most common North American species in the genus (the other nine Ranatra species are difficult to identify). It's interesting though that you found this aquatic insect on a terrestrial plant. Must have been a warmer day, cause this bug doesn't usually fly much; it would prefer to lurk in aquatic vegetation and hope that it looks like a stick!
… Stephen Luk, 16 September, 2006 - 10:57pm login or register to post comments

 
Water Scorpion?
To be completely honest, I don't believe that there is water anywhere close to where we found this guy. It's a big open dry fairgrounds. He was actually on a car when we found him so maybe he hitched a ride, though he doesn't look like he would be able to hang on all that well.
We let him go at our house because I knew he would get squished if I left him there, and we are surrounded by swampy land. Hope he'll be happy.
Thanks for the input.
… Jody, 17 September, 2006 - 1:02pm login or register to post comments

 
They can fly
A lot of times you will find them on cars, because the shine on the car's surface looks like water, which they are flying to
… Matt Bertone, 18 September, 2006 - 8:25am login or register to post comments

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