Subject Matter of Experiments and Observations of Water Animals in School Aquarium XIII (Semiaquatic Pleustonic Bugs, Heteroptera)
Organisms living on the surface of the water are classified as pleuston. Among pleustonic creatures (Heteroptera) are the families: water skeeters (Gerridae), marsh treaders (Hydrometridae), riffle bugs (Veliidae), and water treaders (Mesovelii- dae). They are anatomically built to transfer their weight to be able to run on top of the water’s surface. They usually occur on water surfaces at the edges of lakes, ponds, wetlands or still water in brooks and rivers. They have mouthparts evolved for piercing and sucking, They are predators, commonly hunting aquatic larvae and crustaceans on the water’s surface but also feed on insects that have fallen onto the surface of the water. In this contribution, some experiments and observations in school aquaria are presented. Representatives of the genera Gerris, Hydrometra, and Velia are suitable for breeding and observation in aquaria.
school aquarium, rearing, pleustonic creatures, Heteroptera, observations, experiments
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