Why Are Aquatic Insects Rare? | Magic Pest Control
It is obvious to anyone who has aged beyond their toddler years that there exists a whole lot of insects on this planet. Insect abundance is so great on Earth that even the harshest environments that you can think of most certainly contain at least a few forms of insect life. For example, insects can be found in the freezing cold of Antarctica as well as within the scorchingly hot Sahara Desert. Despite the resilience and abundance of insect species, hardly any insects have adapted to live near water. Considering the abundance of both insects and water on this planet, it is surprising to learn that very few aquatic insect species have come into existence.
Around seventy percent of the globe is covered in bodies of water. There exists approximately ten quintillion individual insects inhabiting earth right now. For those who need some perspective on this massive number, it contains nineteen zeroes. Despite this incredibly high number, there only exists around thirty to forty thousand insect types that are classified as aquatic. Of these forty thousand, only one hundred or so actually live within an aquatic environment. According to one marine biologist, there actually does exist many insect species that dwell within or near sources of freshwater, and there is nothing to prevent these same insects from inhabiting the ocean. Despite this, the number of insect species that dwell near or within the ocean is relatively small, and these aquatic insects are not being deterred by the ocean’s salt content. Although very few insect species dwell within ocean habitats, it is not uncommon for insect larvae and eggs to develop beneath the ocean’s surface. However, most of the larvae that develops within ocean habitats possess wings as adults, which could explain why these insects cannot survive in the sea. When aquatic larval species of insects develop into adults, they often experience difficulty obtaining food so far out into the ocean. This difficulty gives insects another good reason to avoid the ocean and other large bodies of water. For most adult insects, water means death.
Have you ever encountered an aquatic insect while swimming for recreation
