Broad-shouldered Water Strider - Microvelia

Moved

… tom murray, 13 January, 2008 - 4:34pm

Same

species as your one from Glover, Vermont. I don't think either are pul*chella. The pronotum is too "long" to be pulchella.

… Donald S. Chandler, 13 January, 2008 - 1:56pm

Moved

Moved from Microvelia.

… tom murray, 24 April, 2007 - 5:42am

Neat find

I don't recall ever seeing one of these, a neat find. It sent me to How to Know the True Bugs, where I read up on Veliidae. The book answered my question, "Where are the wings, is this a nymph," by saying, "Wings are seldom present" in this family.

Their drawing of Microvelia pulchella looks close, and they note "It is marked with yellow at the base of the first antennal segment, on the front of the pronotum, the middle of the abdomen, and the basal half of the coxae." Well, I see much of those characters on yours.

About this species they also say that wingless forms "are much the most common" and "distribution is almost throughout the United States." They give length for this species as 1.5 to 2 mm.(1)

You're inspiring me to do more exploring of the aquatic realm!

--Stephen

Stephen Cresswell
Buckhannon, WV
www.stephencresswell.com

… Stephen Cresswell, 29 April, 2006 - 3:59am

Microvelia sp.

I'll play it safe and place it under genus Microvelia.
The method I'm using for getting these aquatic bugs is really inefficient, but I'm having fun and finding a few bugs. All I'm using is a 4 oz vial to try and scoop up what I see, and somethimes things unseen.
I adjusted the size to 2mm. The way I get the size is by taking the picture at the closest focus point, and using a scale when I work on the pictures. This picture was verticle, and the scale works best if taken horizontal.
Stephen thanks for all this info about these tiny bugs.

… tom murray, 29 April, 2006 - 8:30am