AHHHHHH! Backswimmers!

[slthom]

I turned on the pool light last night and noticed about 6 of these bad boys swimming around the light. They are definately backswimmers and not boatmen. I checked them out very carefully and they were on their backs just a swimming around!

Anyway, I netted all of them out and threw a few in the lawn and squashed a few with my finger.

Is this the only way to get these critters out of the pool or can a high Cl level and such do the trick?

Thanks

Steve T
Central TX

[gwrace1]

I'm in central Texas as well and have noticed both these back swimmers and water sliders. I'd be interested in knowing how to get rid of them as well. I'm just wondering where they are coming from as there is no other water source close by. Until then I'll skim and smash..:)

[matt4x4]

They seem to like high chlorine levels, I have yet to be able to kill them off, basicall scoop and toss is the only solution I know of.

[Rangeball]

I had a recent experience with what I found out by google were backswimmers.

I had always thought when they were in the pool it was a sign I needed to shock. However this year, my FC is holding steady with no CC and I still have some.

I was in the pool this weekend and ran into a particularly large (compared to the other 3 or 4) one and was able to get him splashed out onto the pool deck. I then flicked him with my finger, sending him about 8' away into our wood fence. A few moments later, he hopped back into view, and we had a stare down. Then he freaked me out. He took off into the air like a rocket!

I turned to the pool, expecting to see him splash down, thinking he had jumped, but he disappeared. In the info I found on google, apparantly their oar like "legs" are actually wings, and these and other common water insects all can fly. They are also predators, and use their beak to pierce the skin of their prey then inject digestive fluids into them, then suck the contents dry. Apparantly they can also bite humans. They can stay underwater for hours, but need to breath air. If you see them at the surface, they are either breathing, hunting, or a combination thereof :)

I'd been letting them slide, but they all die from now on :)

[dbhutch]

Algaecide treatment and double Chlorine shock don't kill the little critters, but the high chlorine levels tend to slow them down a little. Don't squash them with your finger! Their bite is like a bee sting! Use your foot or some other device. We are having a banner year for them due to the return to normal rainfall levels in gulf coastal Texas (Houston). They are beneficial in ponds since their main diet is mosquito larvae....but in my pool they are unwelcome. I wish I could find a way to get rid of them permanently...but apparently no method exists without polluting your pool with poison. Anybody ever try electric shock?