A FAMILY OF WATER KINGS. 445 



ally a little larger and darker colored than its American cousin, 

 and apparently is more common southward than at the North, 

 The life histories of the two species, so far as we know them, ap- 

 pear to be very similar. The eggs of the southern 

 form are laid in masses on sticks or other rubbish 

 at the margins of ponds. The general color of re- 

 cently laid specimens is greenish brown, with longi- 

 tudinal stripes of darker brown, and a faint indica- 

 tion of a light crescent near the top. Their bases are glued to 

 each other and to the stick on which they are deposited by a sort 

 of mucilage. An idea of the appearance of these eggs may be 

 obtained from Fig. o. 



In South America a still larger species is found ; it is called 

 Belosto7na grande, or the great belostoma. Still other species 

 occur in Central America and Cuba, China and India, Egypt and 

 Africa, but none are found in northern Europe. 



Wherever these bugs appear they are formidable enemies of 

 small fishes, frogs, and other aquatic animals. Of the Belostoma 

 griseus, Prof. Uhler writes : " Developing in the quiet pools, se- 

 creting itself beneath stones or rubbish, it watches the approach 

 of a mud-minnow, frog, or other small-sized tenant of the water, 

 when it darts with sudden rapidity upon its unprepared victim, 

 grasps the creature with its strong, clasping fore legs, plunges its 

 deadly beak deep into the flesh, and proceeds with the utmost 

 coolness leisurely to suck its blood. A copious supply of saliva is 

 poured into the wound, and no doubt aids in producing the paraly- 

 sis which so speedily follows its puncture in small creatures." In 

 the breeding ponds of the Massachusetts Fish Commissioners 

 these bugs destroyed so many young fish a few 

 years ago that the authorities had to take spe- 

 cial pains to catch and kill them. 



In many localities these insects have lately 

 received the popular name electric-light bugs, 

 because they fly so freely to electric lights. 

 This indicates that in going from pond to pond 

 they are nocturnal. 



There is another species belonging to this 

 family which is common throughout most of fk;. 4. Rivek Zaitha. 

 the United States. It is less than half the size 

 of those we have been discussing, and is called by entomologists 

 Zaitlia fluminea, or the river zaitha ; and is also known as the 

 lesser water bug. It is a brown insect of the size and shape shown 

 in Fig. 4. Its legs are provided with fringes for swimming, and 

 it has a slender, sharp-pointed beak. As one would expect, it 

 feeds on smaller animals than do the belostomas. A few years 

 ago I dredged a number of these bugs out of an Ohio pond, 



