30 INSECT LIFE IN POND AND STREAM 



This great, strong beetle is a wary fellow, 

 and if he sees you are watching him he will 

 dive to the bottom, of the pool at once, and 

 there he will stay, clinging tightly to the weeds, 

 or fixed by his suckers to a stone, until he 

 thinks all danger has passed. He does not 

 care to stay too long 

 below, indeed he could 

 not live altogether 

 under the water, for 

 he breathes in true 

 insect fashion through 

 breathing pores (or 

 spiracles) placed down 

 each side of his body, 

 protected from the 

 water by his tightly- 

 fitting wing cases, and 

 cannot draw his sup- 

 ply of oxygen from 

 the water as fishes and most water creatures 

 do. 



So when Mr Beetle dives below or swims 

 through the water he always carries a little 

 store of air about with him in a water-tight 

 compartment between his back and his wing 

 case. The wing cases curve slightly, and fit 



SECOND LhU t' KKOWN 

 WATER 15EETLE. 



