North American common water strider
This insect walks on water using fine, water-repellent hairs on its legs, and can detect the ripples of a struggling insect landing on the surface nearby.
| Where | Ponds, streams and calm water edges |
|---|---|
| Size | 13 to 19 mm body length |
| When | March to October |
The common water strider has a slender, dark brown to blackish body with a pale silvery stripe along each side, long thin legs held wide apart, and, in most adults, no wings at all.
It hunts by sensing the vibrations of insects and other small creatures that fall onto the water, piercing them with its mouthparts to feed, and it overwinters as an adult hidden among leaf litter near the water's edge.
Traits
Habitat
Wetland
Colour
Brown, Grey
Active
Day
To people
Harmless to people; it does not bite or sting and simply skates away if disturbed.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Gerris buenoi is distinctly smaller, at about 8 to 10 mm long against the common water strider's 13 to 19 mm, and tends to stay among thick vegetation at the shoreline.
Questions
Is the North American common water strider dangerous to people?
Harmless to people; it does not bite or sting and simply skates away if disturbed.
When can you see the North American common water strider?
The North American common water strider can be seen from March to October, by day.
Plate retouched from a photo by andy71, CC0, iNaturalist Licence
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True bugs›Water striders›Aquarius
Last updated 2026-09-27. Every entry is checked against published sources.