BRN 9-3 - Flipbook - Page 75
Aquarius remigis,
North American
Common Water
Strider
The North American Common Water
Strider is just over a centimeter in
length, darts about without warning,
and is, thus, difÞcult to identify in the
best of conditions. The creature
featured here is Aquarius remigis, the
North American Common Water
Strider. Aquarius remigis was Þrst
described by Say in 1832, although
he placed it in the genus Gerris. I
photographed the individuals shown
at the right on March 4 of this year in
Railroad Canyon, on the west slope of
the Black Range.
Dolomedes gertschi, New Mexico
Fishing Spider, preys on water
striders. According to BugGuide its
range is restricted to the Gila River
drainage in Arizona and New Mexico.
The waters of Railroad Canyon are in
the Mimbres watershed, which drains
into north central Mexico - but not at
the surface. Note, however, there are
observations of this species of spider
from Albuquerque and the Jemez
Mountains listed at BugGuide and
on iNaturalist from the Mimbres River.
It is safe, I think, to state that Þshing
spiders found in this area will be of
this species - by range.
BugGuide lists the following
(unattributed) statement: "(Aquarius
remigis) Faces a conßict when
deciding which habitat refuge to use
when responding to predators.
Predation by sunÞsh (Lepomis) means
these bugs need to retreat to the
stream banks. But they must move
away from those banks when
avoiding Þshing spiders Dolomedes).Ó
Now the stream in Railroad Canyon
does not have any sunÞsh, but it is
likely to have some Þshing spiders.
Something I have yet to observe.
New Videos Added to
the Black Range
Portfolio
Several new videos have been added
to the video portfolios of the Black
Range website this year.
For instance, Rock Stars of the Black
Range - Sublime Rock Formations Volume 1 was added to the Follow the
Contours video portfolio in March.
The Black Range is full of dramatic
rock formations. This video is the Þrst
in (what may become) a video series
which embraces their beauty without
trying to explain their existence or
give them names.
74
And, road videos for Upper Berenda
Creek & Pierce Road and for Cave
Creek have been added to the Follow
the Contours video portfolio, as well.
