SCIENTIFIC STJRVET. 203 



a water walking-stick. The head is small, the forelegs enlarged 

 and adapted for seizing insects, as they creep about the roots of 

 aquatic plants. 



Hydrometridae. The genus Gerris which represents this family 

 in Maine, is long, narrowing alike towards both ends, being shaped 

 like a wherry, and with their long legs they run over the surface 

 of ponds and streams, moving backwards and forwards with great 

 facility. They are among the earliest spring insects. 



The following families are terrestial, living for the most part on 

 plants : 



Reduviidae. Insects with rather long, somewhat flattened bodies ; 

 the beak is much curved ; the head is narrowed behind ; the eyes 

 are very prominent, and the prothorax is much raised in the mid- 

 dle, with a thin, often serrated ridge. The European Reduvius 

 personatus feeds on bed-bugs, its larva and pupa concealed in a 

 case of dust, the better to approach their prey. Ploiaria is very 

 narrow, with very long legs ; it is common in gardens, and is found 

 as late as the middle of November. Nabis ferus is stouter, and 

 very common in gardens. 



Pentatomidae. This is a large family of insects, of bright colors, 

 and often of large size. The head is received into the large, broad, 

 short prothorax, and the scutellum or the triangular piece at the 

 base of the wings is large and distinct ; they are generally oval in 

 form. They are found in shrubs, sucking the leaves, or often seiz- 

 ing some caterpillar with their hooks. De Geer describes the eggs 

 as being generally of an oval form, attached to leaves at one end 

 by a glutinous secretion, the other being furnished with a cap, 

 which the larva busts off when it hatches out. The larvae are 

 rounded oval. 



Coreidae. These insects are narrower than the preceding group; 

 they are flat above, and beneath convex. They run and fly well, 

 their habits being generally very active. They are the most gaily 

 colored, perhaps, of hemiptera. The larvae differ ^"^- ^-^ 

 very little from the perfect insects. They are found 

 on plants, or at their roots. Plnjlocoris lineolaris is 

 is our most abundant and injurious insect. It ap- 

 pears early in spring. Coreus trislis, the squash- 

 bug, (Fig. 27,) collects in numbers around the 

 stems of squash vines next to the roots. 



lingis hyalina represents another family of broad, flattened semi- 



