hungerford: aquatic hemiptera. 49 



abdomen more or less black. First pair of legs entirely black; second and 

 third more or less spotted with lighter color. 



"Dimensions: Insect — Long., 7.4 mm; lat., 5.3 mm. Head including 

 eyes — Long., .6 mm; lat,, 3.4 mm. Prothorax — Long., 2.4 mm; lat., 5 mm. _ 

 Abdomen — Long., 4.4 mm; lat., 5.3 mm. 



"Redescribed from a single specimen in the collection of Mrs. Annie 

 Trumbull Slosson, who took it in Florida. 



"The much roughened upper surface together with the entirely coriace- 

 ous hemelytra fused into one will at once distinguish this species from all 

 the other Mononychinje. 



"The preceding descriptions will doubtless be found lacking in many 

 respects, but dissection being necessary to determine certain anatomical 

 features and characters, such, for instance, as the antennae, the posses- 

 sion of only one specimen, and that not my own, has made it impossible to 

 supply what is missing." — Bueno. He adds: 



"As Say's description is not accessible to all, I give it hereafter taking 

 it from the Le Conte edition": 



"N. stygica. — Black, front quadrilineate. 



"Inhabits Georgia. 



"Body oval, brown-black, rather rough; head crenate on the front so 

 as to form four denticulations; eyes rounded, rather prominent; thorax 

 not emarginate before, with a slightly depressed margin behind; anterior 

 thighs dilated triangular; hemelytra with oblique lines; they appear 

 united at the suture. 



"Length three-tenths of an inch. 



"I have but one mutilated specimen which was sent to me by Mr. 

 Oemler. If I am not deceived by this specimen, the species is apterous 

 and the hemelytra are united by a rectilinear suture, which will require 

 the formation of a separate genus which may be named Nerthra." 



This rare insect has been taken in Florida and Georgia. 



B. Biology of the Gelastocorid^. 



General Notes. These strange bugs are to be found about the moist 

 grounds bordering streams or other water bodies. Some of them dig 

 burrows into the sand or mud. They feed upon other insects, pouncing 

 upon them with a sudden jump. Their general shape and coloring ren- 

 der them difficult to discern in their native haunts. 



Genus GELASTOCORIS Kirk. 



Biology of G. bculatus. 

 Habitat. Uhler has told us how the color varieties harmonize with the 

 bug's surroundings. (See description above.) We have found those on 

 mud flats slate color, and those on the river sands mottled and pebbled 

 like their dwelling place. It is found amongst the "stones and low banks 

 of brooks and streams" or upon the barren sands of the river flats. These 

 bugs are gregarious and peculiarly local in distribution. A colony may 

 be found in one spot along a given stretch of the stream and nowhere else. 



Hibernation. Bueno took these bugs in their second instar at Long 

 Island in late September.* He found no adults, from which he inferred 

 that they hibernate as nymphs.f 



Mating. The writer is not aware of any observation on this point. 

 The sexual differences due to the asymmetry of the male was noted as 



: » 



* Three Days in the Pines of Yaphank., Can. Ent., July, 1912. 



t Our Kansas^ forms winter as adults, burying themselves in the sand. 



4 — Sci. r.iil. — 1669. 



