S8 



and will answer questions about himself promptly and cheerfully. 



Figure i8 will give an idea of the size and appearance of this curious 

 ^^^^ insect. 



-'"fcii^n^J^M^igsi**^ No water insect except the big scavenger 



f^^Kr\ beetle can begin to compare in size with the 



J^K giant water-bug (figure 19). We may think 



^*^ at first that he is a beetle, but the way he 



Fig. 17. A back-sivtmnier. crosses his wings on his back proves him to 



be a bug. In quiet ponds these giants are 



common enough, but the boy or girl who 



" bags" a full-grown one at the first dip of the 



net may be considered lucky. 



The boatmen, back-swimmers, and giants all 



have oars, but are not entirely dependent on 



them. They have strong wings too, and if their 



old home gets too thickly settled, and the other 



insects on which they feed are scarce, they fly 



away to an- 

 other place. 

 The giant 

 water-bug, 

 often migrates 

 at night and is 

 attracted to 

 any bright 

 light he sees in 

 his j o urn e y. 



This habit has given him the popular 

 name " electric-light bug." 



Among the insects which spend but 

 part of their life in the water, we shall 

 find many surprises. It made us feel 

 queer when we found that the restless 

 but innocent looking wiggler of the 



rainwater barrel was really the young of the too familiar mosquito. 



The adult mosquito leaves its eggs in tiny boat-shaped masses on the 



surface of stagnant water, where food will be abundant for the young 



which soon appear. Sorne time is spent by the wigglers in eating and 



18. — Witter-scorpion. 



Fig. 19, — Giant water-bug. 



