I found a water boatmen in our pool...

http://www.bebside.northumberland.sc...%20boatman.jpg

What a strange looking bug! It was swimming in and under the water with the greatest of ease:eek: With legs that appeared to be backwards.

Well...I couldn't catch the thing...but I ended up splashing it out of the pool. But I couldn't find it outside of the pool to squash it.

I've never seen a bug like this before...and wanted to touch base to find out if this particular bug could point to a problem I may not know yet (are they attrcted to xyz condition?)

Never seeing this bug before...is this a bug where I see one...I'll be likly to see many more?

Is there anything you could do to keep them from getting in the pool? do they fly?

The pool looks great...crystal clear...holds it's chlorine very well (with a cya of 30). I vacuum, run the filter and check the water often.


thanks,
dan

I believe the picture is one of a backswimmer. Very similar to a water boatmen. Backswimmers fly and they can bite. I have had them periodically over the last several years. You have to kill them or direct them into the filter to get rid of them. They are not agressive though. They usually swim away when you get near.

See link for more info
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2037.html

Thanks poolrx,

The picture in the other post is one I found while searching the internet. It isn't of one of my bugs...but very similar looking. I'll have to get a picture of one of them.

I had two more today...so perhaps this will be a new battle I have on my hands. They're kind of neat to watch swim...but still too quick for me to catch, except with the vacuum hose ;)

thanks again,
dan

Hmmm -

I think I just found 3 of these little buggers in my pool. At first I thought they were tadpoles since I didn't know there were any bugs that could swim underwater.

Very weird.:eek:

everyone gets them, they like water, they almost make a game out of the whole catch and destroy routine.
The net works well, that's actually how I get most bugs etc. out.
They tend to live through shocking too.
My neighbour had one the size of a quarter when he opened his pool, I told him that whatever's growing in his pool, this thing obviously likes it, it was probably 10 times bigger than the ones I catch in mine.

They are such strange little creatures...and quite good swimmers! Well, I haven't seen any for a while. I've found that they're much easier to catch with the vacuum hose...but do be warned. I sucked a few up in the vacuum hose but you still need to kill this things. I've had them pinned in the strainer, under vacuum for over an hour...when I emptied the basket they start to take off...so I squashed'em! I imagine if you turned the pump off without taking them out of the pool...they'd just swim away.


Have you squashed a water bug lately?

dan

We have had some that swim under water too but do not look like that (eyeballs/head way different) They come up every so often, then dive back down to hang on the ladder or the sides. They are black and have more of a rounder/beetle body with two legs they swim with We only get them if the cover is off at night. We keep it tight to the sides and seem to avoid having any - our 18' round softside had them terrible just below the rim of that inflated top. Just once so far this year.....hard to catch and jump if you net them, they have other legs they use when they hit the ground...

Ew! I have them terribley. It rained last night and there seems to be more. I have fished out at least twenty of them today and as you all have said you have to squash them or they just fly back in. The pool store guy said there is a chemical that you can put in the water that pushes them to the bottom of the pool and ultimately drowns them, but he himself did not seem to be sold on it. Has anyone else heard of anything to keep them from getting in the first place. They are so ugly! Thanks in advance for any help!

i dont know how to get rid of them either, but i just caught 2 of them, threw them on the deck and watch after 10 min. 1 started edging toward the pool, grab the net threw it down on the ground, meanwhile i looked for the other, he's gone. i was watching the pool again, then i saw the baby, couldnt catch him, i'll wait til tomorrow to see second episode.

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Originally Posted by MBeardsley

Ew! I have them terribley. It rained last night and there seems to be more. I have fished out at least twenty of them today and as you all have said you have to squash them or they just fly back in. The pool store guy said there is a chemical that you can put in the water that pushes them to the bottom of the pool and ultimately drowns them, but he himself did not seem to be sold on it. Has anyone else heard of anything to keep them from getting in the first place. They are so ugly! Thanks in advance for any help!

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I don't know how to get rid of them. I haven't heard of any chemicals, not even shocking the pool kills them. I will say that the 1st year when I was using the pool store chemicals I had quite a few of them. Since I have switched to bleach, borax, and muriatic acid(haven't needed baking soda)and I only recall having one or two of them last year and only 1 this year! Probably just a coincidence or maybe they like the neighbors pool better:D Only other thing I can think of is that they feed on insects. If you have a lot of insects floating around it may attract them. Everything I read says that the only way to get rid of them is to kill them:mad:

Hey Joe! Thanks for the reply! I broke down today and bought combat 60 to kill them. We have so many, we don't even want to get in. The pool guy said that it would do the job but after reading the bottle it looks like it is to help with preventing algae. This is also our first year with the pool and our neighbor said the same thing you said about having them bad the the first year they had their pool. Anyways hope this does the job! Thanks again for your reply!
Michelle

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Originally Posted by MBeardsley

Hey Joe! Thanks for the reply! I broke down today and bought combat 60 to kill them. We have so many, we don't even want to get in. The pool guy said that it would do the job but after reading the bottle it looks like it is to help with preventing algae. This is also our first year with the pool and our neighbor said the same thing you said about having them bad the the first year they had their pool. Anyways hope this does the job! Thanks again for your reply!
Michelle

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Michelle,

Would you mind posting the ingredients of the "Combat 60". I have not heard of it and couldn't find anything on Google. Wondering if it is something that reduces the surface tension of the water therefore preventing the little buggers forming the air sac that enables them to stay under so long.

Joe

I am FREAKING OUT as I was cleaning the pool today (as I vacuum twice a week) and this things swims by the pole UNDER the water like it is enjoying itself !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HATE, HATE, HATE, BUGS and I CERTAINLY do not want them sharing my pool !!!!!!! I managed to catch him and put him in a jar and he is swimming around in there....... so I have to smush him to get rid of him????? This is the first time since May 19th (when the pool was put up) that I have found something like this...... EWWWWWWWWWWW---kinda takes all of the enjoyment out of the pool for me. This thing swims on his back and has dagger like front legs/fangs and long hind legs that look like oars.

YUK YUK YUK

I just did something very interesting.....
I caught the bug, placed it in a jar and left it halfway filled and then I put bleach in it (about a 1/4 cup) and now he is floating at the top of the jar and not moving much at all..... I thought bleach/shock wouldn't kill them or did I suffocate him---it has been about 15 minutes since I put him in here with the bleach? My water is sooo clear and I keep my chlorine at around 5 (with a CYA between 40-50).

You have 5 ppm in your pool.

You likely have around 250,000 ppm in your jar.

:)

That would do it, drain pool 3/4 of the way, refill with bleach.

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Originally Posted by sevver

That would do it, drain pool 3/4 of the way, refill with bleach.

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lol:p



Well, I've found a few more in the past couple weeks. It doesn't seem to be much of a problem...I get maybe one to four a week. I just hope the numbers stay low :o


They are strange little bugs though. I suppose we should all be happy we don't have the giant waterbug :eek:

http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/insec...-water-bug.jpg

HEY...that sounds like a great idea - drain water: add bleach !!!! Maybe the entire family can swim in bleach instead of water....... :eek:
I did find this on the net last evening:

1. "I have a huge problem with the backswimmers in my pool. I have spent a few hundred dollars and a lot of time to try and get rid of them........... All you have to do is get BioGuard brand Back-Up algaecide and put the whole bottle in your pool. I just put it in an hour ago and there are at least 50 dead bugs floating at the top of my pool.............." http://www.faqfarm.com/Q/How_do_you_...mers_in_a_pool

We have an above ground pool that we keep very clean, and we have both waterboatmen and backswimmers (about 4 - 6 per week). If you see both of them, you can tell the difference. The wb are slighly smaller, lighter in color (gray) and seem to stay by the sides of the pool (they feed on any algee in the pool).

The bs are larger in size, darker in color (closer to black), much faster swimmers and swim all over the pool. They also bite but wb do not. If you can look at one closely when it comes to the surface, you can actually see it's nasty little legs curled up on top of it since it swims on its back.

The bs eat the wb and other water bugs in the pool. Guess that is why they are larger because they have a belly full of wb. :eek:

We have not found a way to keep them out yet. I am going to try that Bioguard product. For now, I just walk around the pool and can usually spot them and get them out with a net and crush them. I won't get into the pool until I have thoroughly checked it. They both creep me out.

I have also heard of mixing dish soap in a water bottle and spraying the top of the pool so they can't come up for air. I don't know if this works, but it may be worth a try for a smaller pool.

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Originally Posted by helix2000

I have also heard of mixing dish soap in a water bottle and spraying the top of the pool so they can't come up for air. I don't know if this works, but it may be worth a try for a smaller pool.

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I don't think that is a good idea. Read this post here.

Um, unless you want to deal with a copper problem next, I would not use Bioguard Backup algaecide to kill the water bugs....

Sorry, I didn't mean in large amounts like that. That is nut's!

I read that if you take a tblsp of dawn and mix it with water in a spray bottle and then spray a light layer over the top of the pool, this prevents the bugs from breaking the surface and getting air, so they drown.

Like I said, I don't know personally if this works, but the people who posted it said it worked for them, but I think they had an above ground.

We put our pool up July 4th and have caught 100+ in the skimmer. My son makes a game of it with goggles and a net. The other I rattled the ladder and out they came. 1huge one and a bunch of liitle ones. They were immediately caught in the net and exterminated with extreme prejudice. We've had the solar cover on for a couple days. I hate to see what's living in there now.

There are a couple of products designed to help control these bugs. One is "Bug Out" and the other "Bug Away." Ask a dealer.

These bugs actually use a primitive lung on their abdomen. They trap a bubble of air and use it to breath. The products reduce the surface tension of the water so that bubbles can't form and the critters drown. Generally what happens is that they will fly (yes, they fly) into the pool and try to trap a bubble. If they can't they will try to fly away. The ones in the pool will drown. Either way, the idea is to interrupt the breeding cycle and they will go away. You can scoop out the dead ones, let the skimmer get them or your auto cleaner.

The small ones are generaly just an unsightly nuisance, the big ones are the "mamma" and will bite. They can live in highly chlorinated water. I have found them inside floating chlorinators happily sitting on the tablets.

Well...our swimming season is pretty much over :(


But the waterboatmen problem wasn't all that bad. True...the bugs were a nuisance...but I didn 't have a large problem with them. But my concern (early on) was that I was going to have a larger problem than I did. Thankfully ;)

It's still odd to watch them swim around though:rolleyes:

take care all,
dan