Water Treader
Like their name suggests, Water Treaders walk or run on the water surface.

What they look like:
Water Treaders are similar to Water Striders, but have shorter legs and a smaller, fatter body.

Size:
up to 5 mm long.

Where they live:
Water Treaders live on the surface of stationary and slow flowing pools. They stay at the edges of banks and hide among vegetation.

What they eat:
Water Treaders eat other aquatic organisms or creatures that fall into the water. They spear their prey with their beak and suck out the body fluids.

What’s interesting about the Water Treader?

• Water Treaders either walk or run on the water surface.
  
  
• They detect their prey from vibrations of the water surface.



• Like the Water Strider, the legs of the Water Treader have fine, feathery, water repellent hairs on their feet, which allow them to stand on the water surface.



• Their hind legs are longer than their body.

Where they fit in:
> Phylum Arthropoda > Class Insecta > Order Hemiptera > Family Mesoveliidae