Family HYDROMETRIDAE Billberg, 1820 ‑ marsh treaders, water measurers
N.M. Andersen
The family includes 7 genera and about 110 species, distributed worldwide. All species are predators of arthropods. The extremely slender bugs of this family live in moist surroundings, either humid terrestrial habitats (litter), marginal aquatic habitats, or on water surfaces covered with floating plants. Hydrometrids overwinter as adults. The relatively large eggs are deposited in an upright position, above water on plant leaves or stems, etcetera There are five larval instars. Many species are wing-dimorphic.
World catalogue: Lethierry & Severin, 1896 (outdated). Palaearctic catalogue: Andersen, 1995e. Monographs: Andersen, 1982a (general account); Hungerford & Evans, 1934 (partly outdated). Faunal reviews: China ‑ Hoffmann, 1941; Chen & Andersen, 1993; France ‑ Poisson, 1957a; Italy ‑ Servadei, 1967; Tamanini, 1979. Biology: Cobben, 1968a; J.T. Polhemus & Chapman, 1979; Southwood & Leston, 1959.