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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)

Family Gerridae - Water Striders

Classification · Other Common Names · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Remarks · Print References · Works Cited

water strider - Limnoporus canaliculatus

Male, Aquarius remigis? - Aquarius remigis - male

Gerris on riparian pond - Gerris incurvatus

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)

Other Common Names

Pond Skaters, Jesus Bugs, Water Skippers

Explanation of Names

Gerridae Leach 1815

Numbers

46 spp. in 8 genera in our area(1), ca. 750 spp. in ~70 genera worldwide(2)

Size

3―16 mm [worldwide, 1.6―36+ mm(2)]

Identification

Hind femur longer than abdomen (unlike in other gerromorphs). Thorax varies with degree of wing development: in apterous individuals, pronotum short; in winged forms it extends caudad of wing bases. Many species have two or even three wing morphs.

Range

worldwide and throughout NA(1)(3)

Habitat

surface of ponds and slow-moving streams/rivers

Season

whenever water is not frozen

Food

living or dead insects on the water surface

Remarks

fine water-repellant hairs on the underside of the tarsi allow the bug to walk on water's surface(4)

only the mid- and the hind legs are used for locomotion; they are attached to large coxae connected to the sides of the thorax and are unfit for walking on land(5)

Print References

(6)

Works Cited

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

2.	Biodiversity of the Heteroptera Henry T.J. 2009. In: Foottit R.G., Adler P.H., eds. Insect biodiversity: Science and society. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell: 223-263.

3.	Australian Faunal Directory

4.	Insects: Their Natural History And Diversity: With a Photographic Guide to Insects of Eastern North America Stephen A. Marshall. 2006. Firefly Books Ltd.

5.	Evolution of the Insects David Grimaldi and Michael S. Engel. 2005.

6.	The Gerridae or water striders of Oregon and Washington (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) Stonedahl G.M., Lattin J.D. 1982. Oregon State U., Tech. Bull. 144, 36 pp.

Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod, Mike Quinn, v belov
Last updated 30 July, 2023 - 4:45pm

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