Scientific name: Limnogonus fossarum (Fabricius)

Common name: Water strider

Adult form of water strider Limnogonus fossarum (Fabricius)

Taxonomy:

Economic importance

Generalist predator.

Hosts

Leafhoppers, planthoppers, and moths.

Description

Limnogonus fossarum is a black and long-legged water strider. Its rear legs are long and slender, whereas its front legs are very short. Its hind femur extends beyond the abdominal tip. The mid coxae are closer to the hind coxae than the fore coxae. It is distinguished from other water striders by the longitudinal yellow line on the posterior of the pronotum.

Biology and ecology

Limnogonus fossarum adults and nymphs prey on 5 to 10 hosts a day. They lay as many as 10 to 30 eggs in the rice stem above the water surface. They also deposit their eggs on floating objects. They live for 1 to 1.5 months.

In a greenhouse experiment in the Philippines, the life cycle of the insect was 57 to 66 days. A female adult can lay 87 eggs.

Selected references

Barrion AT, Litsinger JA. 1994. Taxonomy of rice insect pests and their arthropod parasites and predators. In: Biology and management of rice insects. Manila (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute. p 13-362.

Rubia EG, Heong KL. 1990. Life history of water strider Limnogonus fossarum (F.). Int. Rice Res. Newsl. 15(1):34-35.

Shepard BM, Barrion AT, Litsinger JA. 1987. Helpful insects, spiders, and pathogens. Manila (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute. 127 p.

Van Vreden G, Ahmadzabidi AL. 1986. Pests of rice and their natural enemies in peninsular Malaysia. Wageningen (Netherlands): Centre for Agricultural Publishing and Documentation (Pudoc). 230 p.