IT would seem to me this summer there are more puddles to be found on the nature reserves than usual.

These puddles are doing the animal life no end of good. Many of the reserves' larger animals will be glad of this extra water at this time of year, particularly on the dry, heathy nature reserves, as water is usually quite a difficult commodity to come by.

There are, or course, insects which are taking advantage of the abundance of puddles.

Anywhere there is standing water, water beetles seem to arrive within hours.

My children often bring this fact to my attention when they drag me over to inspect their paddling pool after a few hours of no use, concerned they now have to share their pool with a small black diving beetle, which is twisting and turning in the waters of the pool.

Another insect which seems to appear wherever there is a patch of water, is the pond skater.

Pond skaters are fascinating creatures.

As a child I spent many hours watching these creatures, marvelling the almost magical way they skip across the surface of the water on their long, thin legs, and never seem to get wet.

The science of how these creatures achieve this feat is two-fold.

Firstly, they are very light and spread what weight they have on four long limbs.

Like all insects, pond skaters have six legs. The front two are much smaller and are used to help spread a small amount of weight, but are primarily used to stabilise the creature, and for hunting.

These long legs make slight dents in what is known as "the surface tension" of the water, but the pond skater's weight is spread so thinly the water surface tension is sufficient to support it.

Secondly, as the first system is not foolproof, the pond skater is covered in very fine hairs, which act to repel water, so that even after an unexpected dip the insect stays dry.

Pond skaters use these specialised adaptions to prey on less fortunate insects.

Occasionally, a fly or insect will become disorientated flying over the pond skaters' pool and crash into the water. Without the pond skaters' water-repelling hairs the unfortunate insect soon becomes trapped by the same force of water tension the pond skater uses to support its weight.

The pond skater then detects its victim by feeling the vibrations as it struggles. These move out like ripples across the surface of the water.

The pond skater propels itself across the water with swift beats of its middle legs, to devour the victim.

Pond skaters do not get everything their own way and are vulnerable to attack from below, particularly in deeper, more established pools, where fish often look on them as tasty snacks.

They are also prey to the larvae of water mites which, on occasion, can be seen as small red blobs clinging to their legs.