Insect and Spider Identification: Backswimmers, 1 by Tbsclmail

Tbsclmail wrote:
I\'m curious about \"backswimmers\". I don\'t know the technical term, but I included a photo below. This isn\'t a photo I took, but a photo of the bug I am referring to.

We recently had an above ground pool installed. I\'ve never seen these bugs before, but now we have many of them! We do live near a lake, but the pool is a couple hundred feet from the lake.

My questions are:

1. If we start off with none in the pool and I\'ve never seen these things before, where are they coming from and how do they get in the pool so quickly?

2. Do you have any tips on keeping them out of the pool or getting them out once they are in the pool? We use a skimmer to try and get them, but there are often so many that we can\'t keep up!

3. My wife learned the hard way last year that they bite! Do they pose any other risks?

Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge! This place is amazing!