Vol. XXVlii] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS 2OI 



face-marks elongate, more or less semi-lunar, contiguous throughout 

 their length with orbits; scape very short and thick, without light 

 markings; apex of third antennal joint, the short fourth joint, red 

 beneath, the extreme apex of flagellum also reddish; mesothorax gran- 

 ular, with scattered small shallow punctures ; scutellum deeply emargi- 

 nate behind; tegulae black; wings dark fuliginous; legs black, the an- 

 terior and middle ones with mainly black hair, the hind tibiae and tarsi 

 with an enormous pale golden scopa ; abdomen dull ; apical plate con- 

 cave, broadly truncate. 



San Carlos, Costa Rica (Schild and Burgdorf). U. S. Nat. 

 Museum. One specimen bears the number 5. Related to E. 

 conica Smith (which I have from Maroni, Guyana), but 

 larger, with yellow markings on head in female, and the scu- 

 tellum differently formed. 



Life-history and Habits of the Larger Waterstrider, 

 Gerris remigis Say (Hem.). 



By J. R. DE LA TORRE BUENO, White Plains, New York. 



Of all the bugs I know, I can think of none so amorous as 

 our. common large water-strider, Gerris remigis of Say. From 

 the earliest days of spring, when the Frost King releases the 

 waters from his bondage, till the cloudy days of autumn, when 

 the leaves fall and the winds grow bleak at his return, these 

 beasties are common and familiar sights to the lover of the 

 quiet flowing waters running to the distant seas. In these 

 haunts, in some stil! little bay or moveless backwater, under a 

 bridge, or in the shadow of a tree, or in the cool recesses of 

 an overhanging bank, you may see remigis gathered in num- 

 bers, rowing silently about, now and again skipping to escape 

 the maw of some greedy fish, or pouncing on some unfortu- 

 nate insect fallen into the water and struggling to escape from 

 the clutches of that deadly element. Here they rear large fami- 

 lies and spend at ease the sultry dog-days. When winter comes 

 again the old generation have passed away and their young 

 descendants, now full-grown, seek shelter against frost and 

 snow under nearby logs or stones on the banks, .or crevices 

 in them ; there to sleep until in the round of days Old Sol routs 

 the chills of winter and spring once more ushers in the leaves 



