OF WASHINGTON. 215 
feet condition, which is not remarkable, since they are the only ones among 
the Coleoptera in fact, among all insects of any considerable size which 
afe not immersed in the water. They ride on the surface of the water with 
outspread legs, and they are also the only Coleoptera, excepting the Gyri- 
nidtf, which, in my experience, are able to take wing directly from the sur- 
face of the water. 
Mr. Howard agreed with Mr. Schwarz in the idea that the 
structure and covering of the stigmata have a great deal to do 
with their relative power to withstand the water. He also called 
attention to the fact that those insects that passed the larval state 
in the water were among the easiest to drown in the imago. 
Dr. Marx thought that the presence or absence of hairs around 
the stigmata was of great importance in this connection. In the 
aquatic spiders the stigmata are protected by a thick pubescence. 
He also described their process of spinning under water. 
Mr. Schwarz said, in answer to a question of what became of 
these insects after being washed ashore, that those that were dead 
were soon covered by the sand, and that there were two results 
among the living. Those that tried to crawl away over the sands 
were invariably killed by the hot dry sand before going very far, 
butvthat those that could fly away generally reached the woods in 
safety. 
Mr. Howard said that in Ireland the cut-worm that was so de- 
structive to linen when laid on the ground had been found to be 
able to withstand immersion in a weak solution of chloride of lime 
for a whole day. 
Mr. Mann said that in the Neuroptera the bodies were so frail 
that they would readily take up water. He thought, however, 
that many of the insects washed ashore were only in a state of 
suspended animation, and that they would ultimately revive, and 
called attention to the case of a fly reported by Dr. Franklin, which 
was said to have travelled from Virginia to London immersed in a 
bottle of wine and then to have moved ! 
Dr: Fox stated that among some of the Neuroptera the habit of 
immersing themselves in water for a number of minutes was com- 
mon when the female wishes to lay her eggs. 
Mr. Marlatt read the following note : 
