Pond runner

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Pond runner
Common pond runner (Hydrometra stagnorum)

Common pond runner ( Hydrometra stagnorum )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Hemiptera (Schnabelkerfe)
Subordination : Bed bugs (heteroptera)
Partial order : Gerromorpha
Superfamily : Hydrometroidea
Family : Pond runner
Scientific name
Hydrometridae
Billberg , 1820

Pond runners (Hydrometridae) are a family of bugs (Heteroptera) from the suborder Gerromorpha . They are distributed worldwide except in the Antarctic, with their main distribution area being in the tropics. There are about 119 species known in seven genera.

features

The bugs are 3 to 22 millimeters long. Her body is slender and elongated, her legs are noticeably long and thin. The fore wings can be well developed, receded, or absent. Their surface is more or less even and completely sclerotized. They are placed more or less flat on the abdomen in the resting position. Some species can fly, others cannot. The head of the animal is straight, the compound eyes are about half the length. The rostrum is clearly separated from the sternum of the prothorax on the underside by a sclerotized gula . The four or five-limbed antennae are longer than the head and bristle-free. There are no openings for pheromone glands on the sides of the metathorax . The hips ( coxes ) of the hind legs are flexible, the tarsi are tripartite.

Way of life

The animals colonize the transition area between water and land of ponds, moors and slowly flowing streams. They feed on various invertebrates, both predatory and dead animals. Typical prey includes mosquitoes, mosquito and midget larvae , water fleas and springtails . You may feel like water striders move on the water surface. The females lay their eggs either on horizontal stems or a few centimeters above the water level on the ground.

Systematics (Europe)

In Europe the family is represented by two types:

supporting documents

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Family Hydrometridae - Water Measurers. Iowa State University Entomology, accessed February 27, 2010 .
  2. ↑ a b Hydrometridae. L. Watson and MJ Dallwitz: British Insects: the Families of Hemiptera, accessed February 27, 2010 .
  3. ↑ Hydrometridae in Fauna Europaea

literature

  • Ekkehard Wachmann , Albert Melber, Jürgen Deckert: Bugs Volume 1: Dipsocoromorpha, Nepomorpha, Gerromorpha, Leptopodomorpha, Cimicomorpha (Part 1) with Tingidae, Anthocoridae, Cimicidae and Reduviidae . - Goecke & Evers, Keltern 2006, ISBN 3-931374-49-1

Web links

Commons : Pond runners  - Collection of images, videos and audio files