I II 



HYDROMETRIDAE 



553 



below the surface ; they can dive with facility, and are gregarious. 



They are frequently found close to the shore, and Mr. Walker 



has even met with them on land. The stink-glands of other 



Hemiptera are said 



by Nassonoff to be 



replaced in Haloltates 



by peculiar ventral 



glands. An allied 



genus, Halobatodcs, 



was siipposed to be 



oceanic, but this is 



not the case, some of 



the species having 



been found recently in 



fresh water in India, 



and others in estu- 



aries at Port Darwin. 



A remarkable allied 



form, Hcrmatolates 



Jiaddoni, was recently 



discovered by Pro- 



fessor Haddon in 



Torres Straits. Apart 



from the oceanic life, 



Halolates is by no 



means the most ex- 



traordinary of the 



Hydrometridae. 



Javanese 



laticaudata repeats 



some of its peculi- 



arities, and is of larger size, with the sexes very different. The 



most remarkable of the family is perhaps the fresh-water genus 



Rheumatobates (Fig. 266), in which the males have peculiar 



prehensile antennae that look like legs. These curious Insects 



inhabit North America and the West Indies. 



We may here notice an enigmatic Insect called Hemidiptera 

 J/aeckeli by Leon. From the single specimen known it is con- 

 cluded that the Insect has only one pair of wings, and that they 

 are attached to the metathorax. It is, however, possible, as 



The 



FIG. 266. Rheumatobates bergrothi. < 10. 

 West Indies. (After Meinert.) 



