Hydrometridae
Common pond slider ( Hydrometra stagnorum )
Pond slider ( Hydrometridae ) are a family of bugs (Heteroptera ). They are found worldwide except in Antarctica, where their main distribution area is located in the tropics. There are about 119 known species in seven genera.
Features
The bugs are 3 to 22 millimeters long. Her body is slender and elongated, her legs are conspicuously long and thin. The front wings can be well trained or regressed, or even missing. Its surface is sclerotized, more or less evenly and completely. They are created in the rest position more or less flat on the abdomen. Some species can fly, others do not. The head of the animals is straight, the compound eyes are about half the length. The rostrum is clearly separated at the bottom by a sclerotized gula of the sternum of the prothorax. The four - or five-membered sensor are longer than the head and unbeborstet. On Metathorax no openings for pheromone glands are formed laterally. The hips ( coxae ) of the hind legs are movable, the tarsi are tripartite.
Way of life
The animals inhabit the transitional area between land and water of ponds, swamps and slow-flowing streams. They feed on various invertebrates, both predatory, as well as dead animals. Typical prey includes flies, mosquitoes and midge 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 inches from above the water level on the ground.
In Europe, the family is represented by two species:
- Hydrometra gracilenta Horvath, 1899
- Common pond slider ( Hydrometra stagnorum ) (Linnaeus, 1758)