Like a pane of glass :)

 

To this beetle, water's like a pane of glass.

Being quite small, insects can have a very different relationship with the water-air interface than larger animals do. Surface tension allows for insects like water striders to skate along the top of still waters, for example. But new research reveals an unusual way to tread along this boundary: from the underside. 

A water-dwelling beetle can scuttle upside-down along the underside of the water’s surface, as if the water were a solid pane of glass, researchers report June 28 in Ethology. It’s the first detailed documentation of a beetle moving in this manner, which is known only in precious few animal groups.

Minute moss beetles (one pictured) can reportedly walk along the underside of the water’s surface, a rare ability in the animal kingdom. UDO SCHMIDT/FLICKR (CC BY-SA 2.0)