Midget swimmers
| Midget swimmers | ||||||||||||
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Water dwarf ( Plea minutissima ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Pleidae | ||||||||||||
| Fever , 1851 |
Dwarf back swimmers (Pleidae) are a family of bedbugs (Heteroptera) in the suborder of water bugs (Nepomorpha). The three genera ( Plea , Neoplea , Paraplea ) extensive family is with barely 40 species worldwide, especially in the tropics. In Europe there is only one species, the water dwarf ( Plea minutissima ).
features
The bugs reach a body length of about 2 to 3 millimeters. They have an oval, compact body shape, an arched back and are usually brightly colored. Some species have shortened wings, others, presumably airworthy, but fully developed wings. They have large compound eyes , the point eyes ( ocelli ) are reduced. As with all water bugs, their tripartite antennae are shorter than their head. The scutellum is small and triangular. Their forelegs are not designed to be fangs. The tarsi are bipartite or tripartite. The hind legs, which have two claws on the last tarsal link, are hairless. The hind legs are not designed as swimming legs, however, the animals can swim around. Both sexes are able to generate noises ( stridulation ) as well as perceive noises. The generation of sounds may serve to hold the swarms together. The larvae have glands between the third and fourth tergum on the back of the abdomen.
Way of life
The animals live socially in stagnant water and feed on small insects and mosquito larvae in a predatory manner . As with the back swimmers (Notonectidae), the essential part of the air supply is stored in a felt on the stomach side. This results in an inverted swimming position, with the stomach side up. They prefer to climb around in the dense underwater vegetation.
swell
- E. Wachmann , A. Melber & J. Deckert: Bugs. Volume 1: Dipsocoromorpha, Nepomorpha, Gerromorpha, Leptopodomorpha, Cimicomorpha (Part 1), revision of the bugs in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland, Goecke & Evers, Keltern, 2006. ISBN 3-931374-49-1
- KHC Jordan: Water bugs. The New Brehm Library, Leipzig, 1950.
- Pleidae. Fauna Europaea, accessed December 4, 2006 .
- British Insects: The Families of Hemiptera
- Discover Life - Hemiptera: Pleidae
