Subgenus Micronecta Kirkaldy, 1897

Micronecta Kirkaldy, 1897b: 260

(type species: Notonecta minutissima Linnaeus, 1758, by original designation).

Diagnosis

Males: palar claw relatively large and usually distally widened; prestrigilar flap on segment V with mesial corner pointed; strigil present; median lobe of sternite VII with three to six (usually four) long setae; free lobe of tergite VIII variable, usually sub-rectangular; shaft of left paramere usually plate-like, with subparallel margins; right paramere: shaft distally curved or bent (adapted from Chen et al. 2015).

Remarks

The nominate subgenus contains the majority of species of Micronecta, most of them only share the distally widened palar claw of the male, and the plate-like shaft of the left paramere. Several taxonomic studies on Micronecta, if applying subgeneric classification, tend to ‘dump’ new species into the nominate subgenus, if they do not fit other subgenera. However, if a subgeneric classification is suitable, the definition of the nominate subgenus needs to be revised (Tinerella 2008, 2013), as do the definitions of the other subgenera.