Mesovelioidea

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Paraneoptera
Superordo: Condylognatha
Ordo: Hemiptera
Subordo: Heteroptera
Infraordo: Gerromorpha
Superfamilia: Mesovelioidea
Familiae (1): Mesoveliidae

Water treaders, the superfamily Mesovelioidea, are insects in the order Hemiptera, the true bugs. They are semiaquatic insects that live in moist and wet habitat and on wet plant matter in several types of aquatic habitat.[1]

These insects are no more than 3.5 mm long. They have elongated heads, long antennae, and large eyes, with the exception of Cryptovelia species, which have vestigial eyes. Females are larger than the males of their species and have well-developed ovipositors.[1]

The type genus, Mesovelia, contains about 27 species, many of which are common and widespread.[1][2] The other genera are small or even monotypic, and are less common.

One species is known for its unique specific name, Cavaticovelia aaa, sometimes called the aaa water treader. It is a legitimate binomial name following the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, featuring aaa, the Hawaiian word for "lava tube".[3]

According to some treatments, two families are in the Mesovelioidea.[4] In others, the family Madeoveliidae is treated as a subfamily of the Mesoveliidae.[1][5]

The two families, separated, with included genera are:

Madeoveliidae
Madeovelia Poisson, 1959
Mesoveloidea Hungerford, 1929
Mesoveliidae – water treaders, pondweed bugs[2]
Austrovelia
Cavaticovelia
Cryptovelia Andersen & Polhemus, 1980
Darwinivelia Andersen & Polhemus, 1980
Mesovelia Mulsant and Rey, 1852
Mniovelia Andersen & Polhemus, 1980
Nereivelia
Phrynovelia Horváth, 1915
Seychellovelia Andersen & Polhemus, 2003
Speovelia Esaki, 1929

References

Yang, C. M. and D. H. Murphy. (2011). Guide to the aquatic Heteroptera of Singapore and peninsular Malaysia. 6. Mesoveliidae, with description of a new Nereivelia species from Singapore. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 59, 53-60.
Andersen, N. M. and D. A. Polhemus. (2003). A new genus of terrestrial Mesovellidae from the Seychelles (Hemiptera: Gerromorpha). Journal of the New York Entomological Society (111), 12-21.
Yanega, D. Scientific Names Curious Scientific Names. University of California, Riverside. 2013.
Mesovelioidea Douglas & Scott, 1867. Biolib.cz
Damgaard, J., et al. (2012). Molecular phylogeny of the pond treaders (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Mesoveliidae), discussion of the fossil record and a checklist of species assigned to the family. Insect Systematics & Evolution 43(3-4), 175-212.