The lesser waterboatman or lesser water boatman (''Corixa punctata'') is a water-dwelling

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

of the order

Hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order (biology), order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, Reduviidae, assassin bugs, Cimex, bed bugs, and shield bugs. ...

. Adults normally range in size from 5 to 15 mm long, and are found in ponds, lakes and sometimes even swimming pools. The boatman feeds on

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

and dead plant material. They have long hind legs which they use to swim on top of water. These powerful legs are covered in tiny hairs which helps them float on the surface of the water. They breathe oxygen by trapping air beneath their wing cases when they are on the surface as the oxygen is trapped by tiny hairs. They use trapped air in their physical gill to convert water-borne sounds into airborne sounds that they can hear. They are similar to ''

Notonecta glauca ''Notonecta glauca'' (common backswimmer) is a species of aquatic insect, and a type of backswimmer. This species is found in large parts of Europe, North Africa, and east through Asia to Siberia and China. In much of its range it is the most com ...

'', the

back swimmer Notonectidae is a cosmopolitan family of aquatic insects in the order Hemiptera, commonly called backswimmers because they swim "upside down" (inverted). They are all predators and typically range from in length. They are similar in appearance ...

by appearance, although these lesser waterboatman are herbivores and swim on their fronts. They are not related to ''Notonecta glauca'', back swimmer, nor to the European ''

Micronecta scholtzi ''Micronecta scholtzi'', the lesser water boatman, is a species of pygmy water boatman in the family Micronectidae. It was first described by Franz Xaver Fieber in 1860. They are some 2 mm long and are common in freshwater ponds and lakes ...

'', also known as the "lesser water boatman".

References

External links

Canterbury Environmental Education Centre, includes images

Corixini Fauna of the Netherlands Insects described in 1807 {{Corixidae-stub

References

Further reading

External links