True Bug Family Notonectidae (Backswimmers)

Mayflies

Caddisflies

Stoneflies

Taxonomic Navigation -?-

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

» Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

» Class Insecta (Insects)

» Order Hemiptera (True Bugs)

» Family Notonectidae (Backswimmers)

3 genera aren't included.

Common Name

Match	Common Name
	Backswimmers

Pictures Below ↓

Backswimmers are often important to trout, especially in ponds. They're one of the insects which usually doesn't factor into a fly angler's decisions at all, but it pays to be aware of them because in just-so situations the trout eat nothing else.

Be careful handling them--they have a painful bite.

Egg-Laying Behavior

The adults breathe air. Normally they rest upside down at the water's surface with part of their abdomen sticking up just out of the water to breathe, but they can dive for extended periods carrying an air bubble with them. They are able to leave the water and fly around.

Nymph Biology

Diet: Other insects, including other backswimmers

Backswimmer nymphs are fierce predators upon other aquatic insects.

Pictures of 2 Backswimmer Specimens:

Notonectidae (Backswimmers) Backswimmer Adult

Notonectidae (Backswimmers) True Bug Adult

View 4 Pictures

Collected May 18, 2004 from unknown in Wisconsin
Added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on January 25, 2006

Notonectidae (Backswimmers) Backswimmer Adult

View 1 PicturesNotonectdiae adults can leave the water and fly off whenever they wish. This specimen was caught when it landed on my car. These adults are one of the few aquatic insects that can protect itself with a strong beak.

Collected June 6, 2011 from the Touchet River in Washington
Added to Troutnut.com by Bnewell on June 26, 2011

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Jargon Defined:

Abdomen: The rear and usually the longest (ten-segmented in mayflies) portion of an insect's body, to which the tails are attached.

Nymphs: The juvenile, underwater stages of mayflies, stoneflies, dragonflies, and damselflies and other aquatic insects whose juvenile stages are covered by hard exoskeletons. The word can also refer to the fishing flies which imitate these creatures, in which case it is used as a blanket term for flies imitating any underwater stage of an invertebrate (except for crayfish and leeches).

Useful References:

Schwiebert, Ernest G. 1955. Matching the Hatch. MacMillan Publishing Company.