Heteroptera

Heteroptera are now considered a subgenus to the Hemiptera (sometimes regarded as a separate insect order) and are characterized mainly by sucking mouth parts adapted to pierce plant or animal tissue. Most of the approximately 40,000 known species are terrestrial, but some have also adapted to life on or below the water surface. Water bugs are predatory and divided into two groups – Gerromorpha are bugs inhabiting water surface (such as water striders) and Nepomorpha (water striders, water scorpions…), sometimes also referred to as true water bugs, because even if they must visit the water surface to take air for breathing, they live all their life under the water. Water bugs are a common part of assemblages of various types of aquatic habitats. In Slovakia, (according to the latest data available – Reduciendo Klementová et al. 2015), 56 species are recorded, divided into 11 families.