IHII THK < AN.MHA.N KNT«»>l«»L«miHT. 



a«]iiarium s|)cciniens, which were only two days old, and the following 

 notes were taken as they were watched through a magnifying glass. When 

 the male in its wanderings ran across the female, he stood still behind her 

 for an instant, taking aim as it were, and then started suddenly, running 

 swiftly onto her back. When uj), he held on by the front and hind legs, 

 the libiii." of the first pair bent under and holding on to the shoulders of 

 his mate. The hind pair were held with the femora at right angles to ibc 

 body, the tibias bent under, the extremities being under the edge of the 

 female's abdomen, with the tarsi seemingly banging limply down. The 

 middle legs were held out from the body, the tarsi held up from the 

 surface of ihc water, the object of this apparently being to aid in balancing 

 the male on his precarious perch. While in this position the male 

 positively quivered, theantennsvand the middle legs actually vibrating with 

 the intensity (jf his passion. 'I'he genitalia (but obscurely seen from above) 

 were bent toward those of the female, where they could be seen vibrating. 

 The ft male, of course, remained passive during the act. Three days later, 

 thai is to say, five days after reaching maturity, this bred female was <piite 

 swollen with ova. 



In nature, the eggs are probably deposited on stones or sticks, just 

 above the surface of the water, but not on vegetation, to judge from the 

 preferences shown by the little bugs in the afpiaria. which de|)Osited their 

 eggs on the sides, but not on the abundant duckweed furnished them. 

 In the course of some two or three weeks more or less, depending on the 

 temperature, the nymphs emerge, and after five moults reach the adult in 

 about five weeks. The females display no maternal solicitude, and the 

 young nymphs fend for themselves from their lenderest infancy. No 

 adult parasitism by mites nor cgi: i>arasitism by H)meno|)tera has thus 

 far been observed. 



My first altemj)! to breed Microvelia americaiui was made in the 

 summer of 1904, and two individuals were brought to maturity after five 

 moults. No systematic notes were kept, other than a careful note of the 

 number of ecdyses. In 1905, and again in 1908, more minute observa- 

 tions were made and a more careful record kept, my results being set forth 

 in the following pages. 



It is not a difficult task to breed Aficrove/iii atHfricana. My 

 equipment consists of one or two large aipiaria and an assortment of 

 club-cheese pots, Stendcr dishes of various sizes, and screw-top, opaque, 

 while glass pomatum pots, about an inch or an inch and a half across the 

 lop. The first and last named are preferable, because they offer a white 



