Dorsum convex, light colored, without cross striations.
Front tarsi not scoop-shaped; hind legs fringed for swimming.
Usually larger than corixids, up to 15 mm.
Aquatic predators that swim upside down, thus the common name backswimmer.
Species in the family Notonectidae are separated from those in Corixidae
by differences in their dorsal-ventral coloration, front legs, and behavior.
References:
Page 112 in D. J. Borror and R. E. White. 1970. A Field Guide to the Insects.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Page 224 in J. A. Slater and R. M. Baranowski. 1978. How to Know the True
Bugs. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co. 256 p.
Page 141 in R. G. Bland and H. E. Jaques. 1978. How to Know the Insects,
3rd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co. 409 p.
Page 296 in D. J. Borror, C. A. Triplehorn, and N. F. Johnson. 1989. An Introduction
to the Study of Insects, 6th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing.
875 p.
Page 425 in H. V. Daly, J. T. Doyen, and A. H. Purcell III. 1998. Introduction
to Insect Biology and Diversity, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. 680 p.
