HomeGuideID RequestRecentFrassForumsDonateHelp

Clickable Guide

Calendar

Upcoming Events

BugGuide is a National Moth Week Partner. How to add your National Moth Week 2021 photos. July 17-25.

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

National Moth Week 2020 photos of insects and people.

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

Discussion, insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29

Photos of insects and people from the 2015 gathering in Wisconsin, July 10-12

Photos of insects and people from the 2014 gathering in Virginia, June 4-7.

Photos of insects and people from the 2013 gathering in Arizona, July 25-28

Previous events

TaxonomyBrowse

Info

ImagesLinksBooksData

Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Aquatic Bugs (Nepomorpha) » Notonectoidea » Backswimmers (Notonectidae)

Family Notonectidae - Backswimmers

Classification · Other Common Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · See Also · Internet References · Works Cited

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 Nepomorpha (Aquatic Bugs)

Superfamily Notonectoidea

Family Notonectidae (Backswimmers)

Other Common Names

Water Bees, Water Wasps

Numbers

2 subfamilies, with 32 spp. in 3 genera in NA(1)(2) and 400 spp. in 11 genera worldwide(3)

Size

5-15 mm(3)

Identification

Aquatic bugs that often swim upside-down. When resting at the surface, body is typically tilted with the head downward. Characteristics(4)(5):

hind legs modified for swimming, with long hairs

front legs not scoop-like (unlike in Corixidae)

dorsum convex, V-shaped when viewed from tip of abdomen

wings clear, tips without veins

eyes relatively close together--typically separated by less than the width of one eye

Accurate identification of species often requires examining stridulatory structures and male genitalia.

Keys to genera/species provided in(6)(1)(7)(8)(9)

Range

Throughout North America

Habitat

Ponds, freshwater pools, slow flowing streams

Food

Prey on other aquatic insects and sometimes on small vertebrates; nymphs often cannibalistic

Life Cycle

Elongated white eggs are cemented to underwater plant stems and hatch in a few weeks; first-generation adults appear in July; often 2 generations a year(10)

Remarks

May bite if handled carelessly

Dive by holding air trapped in abdominal pockets; can remain submerged for up to 6 hrs

Come to lights; may invade swimming pools and become a nuisance

Males have a stridulatory apparatus probably used to attract females and communicate during courtship

See Also

Water Boatmen (Corixidae) have rather flat body (often cross-streaked with dark lines) and scoop-shaped front tarsi(11), and swim dorsal side up

Internet References

Family profile(12)

Works Cited

1.	Aquatic Insects of North America R. W. Merritt, K. W. Cummins, M.B. Berg. 2008. Kendall/Hunt.

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

3.	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.

4.	Photographic Atlas of Entomology and Guide To Insect Identification James L. Castner. 2000. Feline Press.

5.	How to Know the Insects Roger G. Bland, H.E. Jaques. 1978. WCB/McGraw-Hill.

6.	How to Know the True Bugs Slater, James A., and Baranowski, Richard M. 1978. Wm. C. Brown Company.

7.	Identification manual for the aquatic and semi-aquatic Heteroptera of Florida Epler J.H. 2006. FL Dept. Env. Prot., Tallahassee, FL. 186 pp.

8.	Bright E. (2002-2011) Aquatic Insects of Michigan

9.	Clifford H.F. (1991) Aquatic invertebrates of Alberta

10.	National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects and Spiders Lorus and Margery Milne. 1980. Knopf.

11.	A Field Guide to Insects Richard E. White, Donald J. Borror, Roger Tory Peterson. 1998. Houghton Mifflin Co.

12.	Australian Faunal Directory

Contributed by Tony DiTerlizzi on 18 July, 2004 - 4:44pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod, v belov
Last updated 2 February, 2020 - 7:54am

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 © 2003-2021 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Printer Friendly Version