Australian water striders of the subfamilies Trepobatinae and Rhagadotarsinae (Hemiptera : Gerridae)

Abstract

The Australian fauna of water striders (Hemiptera, Gerridae) is quite diverse,comprising 12 genera and 36 species representing four of the eight extantsubfamilies currently classified in the family Gerridae. Water striders arecommon inhabitants of the surface film of both freshwater and marine habitats.The present work deals with water striders belonging to the subfamiliesTrepobatinae and Rhagadotarsinae, redescribing the seven species previouslyknown from Australia: Rheumatometra philarete Kirkaldy,Calyptobates jourama Polhemus & Polhemus,C. rubidus Polhemus & Polhemus,C. minimus Polhemus & Polhemus,Stenobates australicus Polhemus & Polhemus,Rheumatometroides carpentaria (Polhemus & Polhemus),Rhagadotarsus anomalus Polhemus & Karunaratne, anddescribing Rheumatometra dimorpha, sp. nov. fromQueensland, New South Wales and Victoria. Keys to subfamilies of Gerridaerepresented in Australia and keys to genera and species of AustralianTrepobatinae and Rhagadotarsinae are provided and the distributions of allspecies are mapped.