OF WASHINGTON. 73 



are placed well forward and work in a vertical plane. These 

 legs are jointed at a very acute angle in the second joint, and 

 the claws on them can be bent down upon the first joint of the 

 leg, thereby clamping the prey as in a vice. It is with these 

 powerful and formidable front legs that it captures its prey. 

 In size it is 3^4 centimeters long, with a reach of i^ centi 

 meters more to its front legs and a breadth of 2 centimeters 

 across the back. 



Nature has gifted this bug with a voracious appetite. Its 

 aggressive prowess as a hunter is something appalling to the 

 owner of an aquarium who chances to secure a specimen, and 

 I well remember my first experience with it. My aquarium 

 contained a beautiful collection of aquatic insects, fish, snails, 

 tadpoles, etc., from the streams about Watsonville, Cal., and 

 it was on a collecting ramble that I discovered Pedinocoris. 

 To me it seemed a wonderful insect and I took it home highly 

 elated over the prospect of a new creature to study. That 

 night I placed it in the aquarium and I was around early the 

 next morning to see how it had fared in its new quarters. 

 Imagine my astonishment to find it sitting complacently on a 

 stalk of Sagittaria devouring a beautiful trout, almost, if not 

 quite, 3 inches long, while all about were scattered the exsuf- 

 flicated skins of many victims young frogs, tadpoles, fish, 

 snails, and various smaller fry. He had fared altogether too 

 well much like a weasel in a hen-house. At that rate my 

 aquarium would soon be totally depopulated, so I removed the 

 bug to less commodious and more sparsely populated quarters, 

 and confined it to a diet of tadpoles and young frogs. Of these 

 it would devour dozens in the course of twenty-four hours. 

 The prey were captured, as they swam near, by a sudden dart 

 forward. The hooked front legs were suddenly thrown over 

 the victim, and the sharp proboscis was thrust into the quiver 

 ing flesh, not to be withdrawn until the skin was a limp and 

 flabby sack of lifeless refuse. 



The habit of Pedinocoris was to lurk in the most secluded 

 and darkened places, backing up occasionally to the surface 

 for a breath of fresh air, and quite often, after returning to 

 the lurking place, raising and lowering the wing-sheaths as 

 though breathing, for beneath these could be seen a large 

 bubble of air, advancing and receding with the up and down 

 motion of the wings. When I took it from the water it would 

 play possum for five or even seven minutes, but when aroused 

 it was full of life, and if held firmly for a moment or two it 

 would eject a few drops of clear liquid, even to a distance of 

 3 or 4 feet. 



Occasionally, it would come stealing to the surface where 



