870 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XV1I1. 



the larvse and imaginal stages of their lives ; there is reason neverthe- 

 less for believing that they are modified terrestrial insects. Jn their 

 general organisation they are similar to Carabidce. They are perfect- 

 ly at home in water but they must come to the surface to breathe. 

 The wing cases fit perfectly to the body, except at the tip, so as to 

 form an air-tight space between themselves and the dorsal surface 

 of the body ; this space forms an air reservoir. When the insect 



requires more air it rises to the 

 surface and exposes the tip of the 

 body exactly at the level of the 

 water, separating at the same time 

 the abdomen from the wing cases 

 so as to open a broad chink at the 

 spot where the parts were, during 

 this insect's immersion, so well 

 held together as to be air and 

 water-tight. 



Something over 1,800 species 

 are at present known, the insect 

 being most plentiful in the cooler 

 regions of the globe. Cybister 

 iimbata (see Fig. 135) is a 

 predaceous water-beetle which 

 has been described by An- 

 nandale from Behrampur in 

 Bengal. 



Fig. 134. — A predaceous water-beetle 

 (.Cybister Iimbata) (Bengal). 



Insect Life in India. 

 Correction Slij). 



As it was found impossible to place all the beetles depicted in the 

 coloured Plates III and IV on one Plate, the following corrections are 

 necessary in the text of Chapter VII : — 



Vol. XVII. No. 2.— p. 137— lines 28, 29— delete the words "It 



is depicted in Plate III, fig. 3." 

 p. 139— line 1, for ' Plate III, fig. 1 ' read 

 ' Plate III, fig. 3.' 



p. Ill — last line, for ' Plate III, fig. 5 ' read 

 ' Plate III, fig. 1.' 



