Swamp strider

Swamp striders were a species of swarming, predatory insects that could walk across bodies of water thanks to their physiology.

Description
These insects were about the size of mundane beetles, measuring in length and weighing. They had dangerously long, spiked suckers.

Abilities
Swamp striders could see in areas of total darkness, as well as sense creatures within of them walking in the same body of water.

These insects were capable of walking across water as if effected by water walk and would even float to the surface if submerged.

Combat
When in a swarm, swamp striders would surround and attack living warm-blooded prey larger than them. They pierced them with their suckers to cause bleeding.

Sub-Species

 * Underdark strider: Swamp striders that inhabited the lakes and seas of the Underdark, such as the Lightless Sea, differed from their surface brethren in that they had a white coloration and were blind.

Diet
These creatures subsisted upon blood.

Habitats
Swamp striders were found within warm marshes of the Realms. They were particularly known to inhabit the Adder Swamp of Chessenta and the Vast Swamp of Cormyr, often terrorizing the inhabitants of the latter.

Usages
Some humanoid races hunted swamp strider swarms on occasion, considering them to be a fine delicacy when roasted.

History
Around 1372 DR, swamp striders were counted among the many creatures that one could only rarely encounter while traversing the sewers of Waterdeep.