larger plain female tibiae. Water walking Veliidae can walk on water because they take advantage of the high surface tension of water and have hydrophobic legs that distribute their weight across more water. Although Gerridae typically have longer legs, Veliidae also have legs that spread out the weight over a relatively large area. Thousands of hydrofugal hairs also coat the entire body, mitigating potential problems incurred by water contact: air bubbles, trapped among the tiny hairs if the insect is submerged, lift the insect towards the surface again. References Tree of Life Fauna Europaea Marine Insects External links Image Gerroidea Heteroptera families Taxa named by Jean Guillaume Audinet-Serville Taxa named by Charles Jean-Baptiste Amyot