water strider 
noun
North American term for pond skater and water cricket.Scientists soon realized that the water strider's hydrophobic legs and undersides, coupled with its small size (typical length is about one centimeter / 0.4 inch), are what keep it from drowning....
- They found that the water strider's legs are so buoyant, they can support 15 times the insect's weight without it sinking.
- Watch a water strider skitter about in staccato bursts, its middle pair of legs doing the rowing and the hind legs steering, its short forelegs ready for catching prey.