Stream runner

Stream runner
Microvelia reticulata
Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta) Order : Schnabelkerfe (Hemiptera) Subordination : Bed bugs (heteroptera) Partial order : Gerromorpha Family : Stream runner
Scientific name
Veliidae
Amyot & Serville , 1843

The brook runner (Veliidae) are a family of bedbugs within the suborder of Gerromorpha , which is distributed worldwide with almost 1000 species in around 60 genera. It is the most species-rich family of Gerromorpha.

The stream runner are about 1.5 to 6 mm long, tropical species can be up to 10 mm long. The entire, mostly squat, body is covered with hair, both microtrichia and trichomes. The complex eyes are usually relatively large. Pronotum enlarged, wider than the abdomen. Wings often reduced, if present, the fore wings have several closed cells. The middle legs are often the longest, the femur of the hind legs no longer than the abdomen.

Occurrence and way of life

Stream walkers occur mainly on or near standing water, sometimes also on running water, some species can be found on the sea. The runners walk on the surface of the water by alternately moving their legs. There is also so-called "relaxation swimming", in which the surface tension of the water is lowered locally by releasing a liquid at the rostrum. Some species are semiterrestrial ( Hebrovelia, Tonkuivelia, Veliohebria ). Some species occur in the puddles of bromeliads ( Paravelia, Microvelia ).

The Veliidae are always predatory, they feed on small insects on the surface of the water, they recognize their prey by vibrations of the surface.

Systematics

The Veliidae are believed to be the sister group of the Gerridae (see Gerromorpha ). The Veliidae are divided into six subfamilies, genera in selection:

• Haloveliinae: central legs greatly enlarged. Occur on the coast of the sea.
  • Entomovelia
  • Halovelia
  • Halovelioides
  • Strongylovelia
  • Xenobates
• Microveliinae : largest subfamily of the Veliidae, recognizable by the tarsi formula (1-2-2). 21 genera
  • Microvelia : about 170 species, 18 species in the Palearctic
  • Xiphovelia
  • Euvelia
  • Husseyella : Neotropical, marine
  • Pseudovelia
  • Veliohebria : New Guinea, mostly terrestrial
  • Tonkuivelia
• Ocelloveliinae : ocelles present, forewings with 6 cells.
  • Ocellovelia
• Perittopinae : only five species in one genus:
  • Perittopus
• Rhagoveliinae : pretarsus of the middle leg with swimming fan
  • Rhagovelia
  • Tetraripis
  • Trochopus : marine, in the Caribbean
• Veliinae : Tarsi on all legs with 3 segments
  • Angilia
  • Angilovelia
  • Oiovelia
  • Paravelia
  • Stridulivelia
  • Velia : live mainly on rivers, mostly wingless, 24 species in the Palaearctic
  • Velioidea

Native species

Only the following genera and species occur in Germany:

• Microvelia
  • M. buenoi
  • M. pygmaea (only sporadically)
  • M. reticulata
• Velia
  • Big stream runner = V. caprai
  • V. currens (in Austria only in the Karawanken, very rare; not proven in Germany)
  • V. saulii

literature

1. ^ Family Veliidae - Smaller Water Striders - BugGuide.Net. Retrieved April 5, 2018 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Slater, James A. (James Alexander), 1920–2008: True bugs of the world (Hemiptera: Heteroptera): classification and natural history . Comstock Pub. Associates, Ithaca 1995, ISBN 0-8014-2066-0 .
3. ↑ ^{a b} Family Veliidae - Smaller Water Striders - BugGuide.Net. Retrieved April 10, 2018 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Melber, Albert., Deckert, Jürgen., Dahl, Friedrich., Klein, Wolfgang., Hartwich, Gerhard .: Bugs: Revising the Bugs in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland / 1 Dipsocoromorpha, Nepomorpha, Gerromorpha, Leptopodomorpha , Cimicomorpha (part 1). Goecke & Evers, Keltern 2006, ISBN 3-931374-49-1 .
5. ↑ H.-J. Hoffmann & A. Melber: Heteroptera . In: Entomofauna Germanica . 6 Supplement 8, 2003, p. 209-272 .