Notonecta undulata, also known by the common name grousewinged backswimmer, are from the family Notonectidae and the insect suborder Heteroptera.

The Grousewinged backswimmer can be found in both lotic and lentic environments; however, they typically prefer small ponds and lakes where the water is slow-moving with less current.

However, the species Notonecta undulata has only been documented and studied in southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the western United States.

This allows them to be efficient swimmers; however, it has been documented that members of the genus Notonecta are not as good at swimming as Buenoa sp.

[2] Prior to 1917, there had been no complete description of the Notonecta genus until H. B. Hungerford described the species N. undulata under the Kansas University Science Bulletin.

N. undulata typically inhabit ponds and lakes but have been known to occupy small streams or rivers when resources become limited or competition in lentic environments is too high.

It has also been tested that the Grousewinged backswimmer will have a higher dispersal rate when predation levels increase in the environment.

[5] Ponds have a greater surface area to volume ratio of vegetation than lakes which increases the amount of hiding places and food for the insect.

[7] In nature, they will avoid temperatures higher than 32 °C by flying and searching out new locations; however, they can withstand them for short periods of time through the use of their cuticular lipid monolayer.

Environmental factors such as pH, temperature and trophic interactions affect the ecology of the Grousewinged backswimmer.

Notonecta are generalist predators that attack and consume many types of aquatic invertebrates and terrestrial prey that fall on the surface of the water.

Studies have been conducted between the Grousewinged backswimmer and Aedes aegypti, a type of mosquito that has been known to act as a vector for malaria and yellow fever.

[12] The preoviposition period lasts 16 days and eggs tend to be laid in ponds or calmer lakes rather than fast-flowing streams.