Today, when I woke up, it felt like any other day.
That feeling of security was soon to be shattered.
I got out of bed and turned on the computer to play in Towns for a while.
Then I ate some Cheerios because I was hungry.
My mum went outside to do some yardwork.
About ten minutes later we heard her shrill screams coming from the back yard.
My da and I ran to the back door in a state of panic.
Mum was standing next to the pool shouting that there were "scarab beetles swimming around in there!"
I went out to have a look and I saw . . . nothing, of course.
I laughed at my mother, saying "What are you, nuts? We're in Maine. There are no scarab beetles here!"
My mum, however, was not convinced. She had seen what she had seen and she would prove it to us.
The pool was already covered in preparation for winter and it had filled with rainwater and other autumnal debris.
She set out with a bottle and rubber gloves, shuffling along the edge of our pool, shifting the masses of fallen leaves which had supposedly obscured these "scarab beetles" from my sight.
I stood and watched from the back deck: a good, safe vantage point a short distance from the pool . . . just in case.
When Mum shouted again, this time in triumph, I looked to see some sort of insect scurrying up and down the edge of the pool cover.
She managed to trap it in the bottle with a bit of water so that it could swim around.
It was no scarab beetle, but whatever it was, it was not native to Maine, that's for sure.
It was about two inches long and an inch wide with feathery tentecles extended out behind it. These were apparently used to propel it through the water.
This brown monstrosity was send someone such as myself - someone with a great fear of any sort of insect, let alone the Godzilla of all waterbugs, into a state of panic.
I ran inside to Google the thing and it turned out to be a giant waterbug, scientific name: Lethocerus americanus.
It is about two inches long by one inch wide. It has glossy brown wings which stay tucked in close to its back while it swims. The adults are very strong fliers, which would explain why they are here in Maine instead of Florida, where they ought to be.
