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nymph in Cyprus Walking on water surface; the dark blobs are shadows cast by water disturbances around each of the six legs touching the water.. The Gerridae are a family of insects in the order Hemiptera, commonly known as water striders, water skeeters, water scooters, water bugs, pond skaters, water skippers, water gliders, water skimmers or puddle flies.
Another insect known to walk on the water surface is the ant species Polyrhachis sokolova. The pygmy gecko (Coleodactylus amazonicus), due to its small size and hydrophobic skin, is also able to walk on the water surface. [2] According to biophysicist David L. Hu, there are at least 342 species of water striders. [3]
Aquatic insects or water insects live some portion of their life cycle in the water. They feed in the same ways as other insects . Some diving insects, such as predatory diving beetles , can hunt for food underwater where land-living insects cannot compete .
Water striders rely on surface tension to walk on top of water. Through evolution, water striders have developed a unique arrangement of legs which gives them the gliding ability with greatly elongated med-legs. The Hox gene "ultrabithorax" lengthens legs in insects.
The pondskaters or water striders (Gerridae) are also associated with water, but use the surface tension of standing water to keep them above the surface; [44] they include the sea skaters in the genus Halobates, the only truly marine group of insects. [41] Adult and nymph Microvelia water bugs using Marangoni propulsion
Corixidae is a family of aquatic insects in the order Hemiptera.They are found worldwide in virtually any freshwater habitat and a few species live in saline water. [1] There are about 500 known species worldwide, in 55 genera, including the genus Sigara.
Velvet water bugs are members of the family Hebridae. They are semiaquatic insects that live among moss or ponds with an abundance of vegetation, in which they prey on small arthropods. Velvet water bugs are the smallest of the Gerromorpha, and have an appearance of tiny veliids. Hebrids sometimes move across water surfaces, but walk or run ...
Veliidae is a family of gregarious predatory insects in the suborder Heteroptera. They are commonly known as riffle bugs, small water striders, or broad-shouldered water striders because the segment immediately behind the head is wider than the rest of the abdomen. Species of the genus Rhagovelia are also referred to as ripple bugs.