The flight wing shapes of 4,046 specimens representing 62 genera of Elmidae and 21 genera of Dryopidae were examined. Within Elmidae, non-macropterous wings were found only in the subfamily Elminae, while the subfamily Larainae had only macropterous wings. Within Dryopidae, only macropterous wings were present in almost all aquatic or semiaquatic genera, while only non-macropterous wings occurred in almost all terrestrial genera. Thus, flight wing shapes are generally a good indicator of both habitat and phylogenetic relations.