I spent my Labor Day weekend on a ranch plotting out possible mountain bike trails and camping with some fellow Brown collegiates.  Between s’mores and board games, there was some serious hiking done, and as a side effect of being so intimate with heretofore undisturbed nature, I got a few fantastic close encounters with the local insect population.

     The hills were alive with the sound of cicada song and grasshopper drone, and I enjoyed watching countless droves of them jump away as we ventured further and further.  After trekking for a while, we reached the bed of a creek where the water had turned the adjacent land into silt.  I looked around and was surprised to find an insect I’d always known about but had never seen before—the water strider.

     These arthropods effortlessly skated across the surface of the water in a way that immediately gave me the impression of fine evolutionary honing.  Their thin legs are covered in tiny hairs that allow them to distribute weight effortlessly and zip all around, floating like minuscule rafts over the creek.

     I am constantly impressed by the majesty of the natural world, and these little creatures inspire the same awe conveyed by vast mountain ranges or the endless night sky.  After observing their behavior for a few more moments I caught up with my group, still amazed by the unique state of the water strider, colloquially known as the Jesus bug.

  (Photo by John Moran, National Geographic)