Gerris buenoi is a species of water strider that belongs to the family Gerridae. It was first identified in 1911 and is native to continental USA and Canada. [1] Individuals of this species are small in size and have modified appendages, allowing them to float and "skate" along the surface of the water. G. buenoi can be found near the shoreline of freshwater ponds and small lakes, where they hunt for terrestrial insects that have fallen into the water.
Gerris buenoi | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hemiptera |
Suborder: | Heteroptera |
Family: | Gerridae |
Genus: | Gerris |
Species: | G. buenoi |
Binomial name | |
Gerris buenoi Kirkaldy, 1911 | |
G. buenoi is an aquatic Hemipteran that often lives in slow moving or still waters across North America. [2] Members of Gerridae have very diverse habitat preferences, ranging from open ocean to small lakes and streams. [3] [4] G. buenoi are adapted to freshwater and are specifically found amongst thick vegetation, such as bullrushes, tall grasses, and lillipads at the shorelines of ponds and lakes. [5] They are considered habitat generalists, but often prefer environments devoid of other water strider species. [6] Members of this species are very abundant during spring and early summer, but tend to show seasonality and numbers decline in the late summer. [2]
G. Buenoi is very similar in morphology to G. incurvatus. Adult individuals are roughly 8-10mm in length. Like most other Gerrids, they are polymorphic, and multiple forms of wings exist to correspond with different seasons and living conditions. [7] [8] Females tend to be larger than males. This species is hemimetabolous and has five nymph stages. The fifth instar of G. buenoi is distinguishable from other members of Gerridae by pale, arrow-shaped markings present on their mesothorax. [9] Water striders have all developed elongated mid-legs (in comparison to their hind and forelegs) as adaptations to life on the surface of water. Their front legs are short and raptorial, making them useful for prey capture.
G. buenoi's extended mid-leg adaptation gives them increased thrust along the surface of the water, and hind-legs act as "rudders" to control movement direction. [10] These extended legs cause Gerrids to disperse their weight across the surface of the water, allowing them to skate around with ease. [8] Tarsi have water repellent hairs that prevent submergence, and mechanoreceptors are present on their limbs which orient them in the direction of stimuli by sensing waves in the water. This allows individuals to easily locate and move toward mates or prey, and escape predators.
G. buenoi is a predacious insect that feeds primarily on other insects. It is opportunistic in that it most often feeds on small, struggling prey that has fallen into the water. [11] Feeding consists of locating prey, capturing prey using raptorial front legs, and moving to a safe location before consuming it using piercing/sucking mouthparts. Large prey such as damselflies can be the target of groups of water bugs feeding all at once. Common predators of G. buenoi include fishing spiders, diving beetle larvae, dragonfly naiads, and backswimmers. [12] Some parasites that target this species include red water mites and scelionid wasps. [13]
While predation from other arthropods is the greatest mortality factor in G. buenoi, predation from other individuals of the same species is common. [12] However, first and second instar individuals are especially prone to intra-cohort cannibalism. [14] During early stages of development, if food shortages occur, nymphs are most likely to resort to cannibalism. If G. buenoi are raised in an environment lacking predators, cannibalism can improve growth and development of certain individuals; which can result in the heaviest possible adults.
G. buenoi generations live for approximately one year. [15] Adults survive winter months and lay eggs in the spring. There are five nymph instars which take roughly two months to reach adulthood. Eggs are typically laid on the underside of aquatic vegetation and other debris found floating in the water. Females control the majority of mating interactions due to their large size. Convenience polyandry is common in G. buenoi and Males are known to frequently harass females if the ratio of males to females is high. [16] In this situation it is adaptive for females to accept as many mating attempts as possible, because a great deal of energy would be used trying to repel males attempting to copulate.
Like other water striders, G. buenoi is known to perform underwater basking behaviour. [17] This process occurs when individuals submerge themselves under water in cold months when the temperature of the water is warmer than that of the air. Both sexes perform this behaviour, but it has the most benefits to females in that it increases gonad development time and egg production rate. Increased temperatures have the ability to increase reproductive fecundity.
Female hunger is the single greatest determinate of mating rate in G. buenoi. [18] In fact, if females go for extended periods of time without food, mating rates decrease by around 50%. Similarly to most other water strider species, large G. buenoi males are preferred by females. In situations where food is limited, small males are at a disadvantage. When poorly fed, females become reluctant to mate due to high energy expenditure, and large males are selected based on their ability to overcome female reluctance.
Antagonistic coevolution has arisen in G. buenoi, as well as other members of Gerris. [19] This is a seemingly maladaptive process and it occurs when males and females struggle to reproduce with one another due to conflicting reproductive patterns. Antagonistic coevolution has the ability to hinder reproductive success of populations of water striders, and is driven by males that have high reproductive rates and females that have low reproductive rates. Post-copulatory processes such as sperm competition and cryptic female choice can also impact reproductive success.
Hemiptera is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from 1 mm (0.04 in) to around 15 cm (6 in), and share a common arrangement of piercing-sucking mouthparts. The name "true bugs" is often limited to the suborder Heteroptera.
The Gerridae are a family of insects in the order Hemiptera, commonly known as water striders, water skeeters, water scooters, water bugs, pond skaters, water skippers, water gliders, water skimmers or puddle flies. Consistent with the classification of the Gerridae as true bugs, gerrids have mouthparts evolved for piercing and sucking, and distinguish themselves by having the unusual ability to walk on water, making them pleuston (surface-living) animals. They are anatomically built to transfer their weight to be able to run on top of the water's surface. As a result, one could likely find water striders present in any pond, river, or lake. Over 1,700 species of gerrids have been described, 10% of them being marine.
Veliidae is a family of gregarious predatory insects in the suborder Heteroptera. They are commonly known as riffle bugs, small water striders, or broad-shouldered water striders because the segment immediately behind the head is wider than the rest of the abdomen. The genus Rhagovelia is also referred to as a ripple bug.
Sexual conflict or sexual antagonism occurs when the two sexes have conflicting optimal fitness strategies concerning reproduction, particularly over the mode and frequency of mating, potentially leading to an evolutionary arms race between males and females. In one example, males may benefit from multiple matings, while multiple matings may harm or endanger females, due to the anatomical differences of that species. Sexual conflict underlies the evolutionary distinction between male and female.
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Gerris lacustris, commonly known as the common pond skater or common water strider, is a species of water strider, found across Europe.
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The six-spotted fishing spider is an arachnid from the nursery web spider family Pisauridae. This species is from the genus Dolomedes, or the fishing spiders. Found in wetland habitats throughout North America, these spiders are usually seen scampering along the surface of ponds and other bodies of water. They are also referred to as dock spiders because they can sometimes be witnessed quickly vanishing through the cracks of boat docks. D. triton gets its scientific name from the Greek mythological god Triton, who is the messenger of the big sea and the son of Poseidon.
Zelus renardii, commonly known as the leaf hopper assassin bug, is a predacious insect contained within tribe Harpactorini. Diurnal and found on both wild and crop plants, Z. renardii has spread from its native habitats in western North and Central America into three other biogeographic regions across the globe.
Aquarius remigis, known as the common water strider, is a species of aquatic bug. It was formerly known as Gerris remigis, but the subgenus Aquarius was elevated to generic rank in 1990 on the basis of phylogenetic analysis. Aquarius remigis is found throughout North America, but is most prevalent in the mid-west of the United States.
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Pisaurina mira, also known as the American nursery web spider, is a species of spider in the family Pisauridae. They are often mistaken for wolf spiders (Lycosidae) due to their physical resemblance. P. mira is distinguished by its unique eye arrangement of two rows.
Gerris is a bug genus in the family Gerridae.
In behavioral ecology, polyandry is a class of mating system where one female mates with several males in a breeding season. Polyandry is often compared to the polygyny system based on the cost and benefits incurred by members of each sex. Polygyny is where one male mates with several females in a breeding season . A common example of polyandrous mating can be found in the field cricket of the invertebrate order Orthoptera. Polyandrous behavior is also prominent in many other insect species, including the red flour beetle and the species of spider Stegodyphus lineatus. Polyandry also occurs in some primates such as marmosets, mammal groups, the marsupial genus' Antechinus and bandicoots, around 1% of all bird species, such as jacanas and dunnocks, insects such as honeybees, and fish such as pipefish.
Aquarius is a genus of water striders found predominantly in the northern hemisphere. Formerly a subgenus, Aquarius was elevated to generic rank in 1990 on the basis of phylogenetic analysis. These are among the world's largest water striders, with females averaging 12–17 mm (0.47–0.67 in) long and males roughly 10–30% smaller, depending on the exact species. An outlier is A. elongatus where both sexes typically are about 24 mm (0.94 in), roughly the same as certain Cylindrostethus, and second only to Gigantometra gigas.
Agelenopsis pennsylvanica, commonly known as the Pennsylvania funnel-web spider or the Pennsylvania grass spider, is a species of spider in the family Agelenidae. The common name comes from the place that it was described, Pennsylvania, and the funnel shape of its web. Its closest relative is Agelenopsis potteri.
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