Clickable Guide

Interactive image map to choose major taxa

Calendar

Upcoming Events

National Moth Week was July 19-27, and the Summer 2025 gathering in Louisiana, July 19-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Semiaquatic Bugs (Gerromorpha) » Gerroidea » Water Striders (Gerridae) » Gerrinae » Aquarius

Genus Aquarius

long thin bug skating on tiny pond - Aquarius remigis

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)

Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)

Infraorder Gerromorpha (Semiaquatic Bugs)

Superfamily Gerroidea

Family Gerridae (Water Striders)

Subfamily Gerrinae

Genus Aquarius

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

formerly treated as a subgenus of Gerris; reviewed in (1)

Explanation of Names

Aquarius Schellenberg, 1800

Numbers

5 spp. in US, 2 in Canada(2), 18 spp. total

Identification

hind tibia at least 4 times as long as metatarsomere 1; connexival spines prominent; pronotum dull; antennomere 1 more than 0.9 as long as antennomeres 2+3; adults winged or wingless

Gerris: connexival spines not prominent, metatibia <3.3 as long as metatarsomere 1

Limnoporus: antennomere 1 <0.8 length of antennomeres 2+3

Range

worldwide, but mostly holarctic; throughout NA(1)

Habitat

surface of ponds, lakes, slow-moving streams, rivers

Food

aquatic arthropods

Remarks

Taxonomy of the Aquarius remigis group, q.v., needs further study; that group will be likely moved to a separate genus within or sister to the Gerris clade. The only 'true' Aquarius in our area are A. conformis and A. nebularis, both members of A. elongatus group.

Works Cited

1.	Phylogeny and taxonomy of water striders, genus Aquarius Schellenberg (...), with a new species from Australia Andersen N.M. 1990. Steenstrupia 16: 37-81.

2.	American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 2 June, 2007 - 3:26am
Additional contributions by Hannah Nendick-Mason, v belov, Harsi S. Parker, mpintar
Last updated 25 November, 2023 - 4:56pm

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2025 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Printer Friendly Version