Lesser water boatman: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the lesser water boatman lives – recorded in 10 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Corixa punctata
Group	Grasshoppers, bugs & other insects
Found in	10 countries
Continents	Europe
Class	Insect
Order	Hemiptera
Family	Corixidae

Where does the lesser water boatman live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the lesser water boatman in 10 countries and territories across Europe.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What kind of animal is the lesser water boatman?

The lesser water boatman (Corixa punctata) is an insect in the order Hemiptera and the family Corixidae, genus Corixa. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the lesser water boatman

The lesser waterboatman or lesser water boatman (Corixa punctata) is a freshwater-dwelling insect of the order Hemiptera.

Adults normally range in size from 5 to 15 mm long, and are found in ponds, lakes, swimming pools and most bodies of freshwater.

The boatman feeds on algae and dead plant material. They are green with long hind legs which they use to swim on top of water. These powerful legs are covered in tiny hairs which helps them float on the surface of the water. They also have wings which enable them to fly and reach suitable environments.

They breathe oxygen by trapping air beneath their wing cases when they are on the surface as the oxygen is trapped by tiny hairs. They use trapped air in their physical gill to convert water-borne sounds into airborne sounds that they can hear.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Lesser water boatman (revision 1275832539), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q145247 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).