BUGS. 269 



A series of genera, represented by JBrachymetra from Brazil, and Metrocoris from 

 Ceylon, effects a fine transition from the preceding forms to the assemblage of genera 

 formerly placed in the old genus Halobates. Most of the species belonging to the 

 latter are remarkable for being residents of the warm and more quiet parts of the sur- 

 face of the great oceans of both hemispheres. It is therefore in the region of calms 

 near the equator, and amidst the great tracts of Sargassum which float there, that 

 these creatures are most at home and appear in the greatest numbers. As the patches 

 of this sea-weed are sometimes widely distributed by the storms and currents, we 

 occasionally meet with them at long distances from their original locality, and this 

 may account for the sporadic examples of the Halobates, which are occasionally found 

 in the Atlantic Ocean as far north as the coast of North Carolina. These insects 

 are truly pelagic, living at distances of many hundreds of miles from the nearest land. 

 Exit as they must find some object in the water suitable for the attachment of the 

 eggs, the floating sea-weed becomes at once available, and furnishes a nidus similar to 

 that which their brethren of the fresh water discover in their native streams on the 

 mainland. Eleven species of the genus as now restricted have been taken in the 

 Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Of these, the greater number belong to 

 the eastern hemisphere, and only one, H. streatfieldanus, is said to be restricted to the 

 Atlantic Ocean. Doubtless the storms of these oceans, and the tremendous currents 

 which course along the coasts of the continents, have carried these insects far from the 

 places where they originated, so that, as we now find, the larger proportion of the species 

 inhabit both of the great seas, instead of being confined to restricted areas of either. 



The most representative form is perhaps the If. wuellerstorffii. It is of a lead- 

 gray color, plump, oval form, paler on the sides and below, and with two orange spots 

 on the base of the head. The black eyes stand out like round beads, the legs are 

 steel-blue ; the middle pair are larger and stouter than the hind ones ; the fore-tibiae 

 have a stout tooth beneath, near the tip, and the hind tarsi are one-jointed. Speci- 

 mens of the male show a longer and somewhat narrower body than the female, while 

 the genital segment is large, conspicuous, almost bulb-like. This species, when full- 

 grown, measures about four and a quarter millimetres in length, but specimens as 

 commonly seen in the collections are much smaller in size, owing to their being unde- 

 veloped. It is a common form near the coast of Lower California, and not less so 

 at Key West, Florida, and along the borders of Cuba and Saint Thomas. Numer- 

 ous specimens have also been found in the Atlantic Ocean, from 

 latitude 43 north to 20 south of the equator. Other localities 

 have also yielded specimens, as, for example, the east coast of 

 Africa, Sunda Straits, and vicinity of Norfolk Island. 



Quite in contrast with the foregoing is the genus Haloba- 

 todes, which differs in having the body longer and narrower; 

 the eyes less prominent, deeper seated, the fore-tibia? with a 

 nearly straight process at the tip, and the hind-tarsus two-jointed. 

 Instead of being lead-color or some shade of gray, the colors in 

 this genus are yellow, marked and striped with black. Four 

 species have already been made known, all of which came from 

 the seas of Asia. The best known, H. lituratus, is from Japan, 

 and measures nearly one-fourth of an inch in length ; another, somewhat larger, 

 lives in the ocean near Ceylon. All are said to be unwinged. Two genera of 

 great interest inhabit the United States and West Indies. Mexico shares in the first 



