hungerford: aquatic hemiptera. 121 



Lundbeck, 1914, in a most interesting paper, deals with the oviposition 

 of these bugs. 



He studied the Steenstrup material. He gives a photograph of the 

 tail of a bird, the Noddy (Aiwus stolidus) , showing many eggs of Halo- 

 bates on the feathers. He confirms Witlaczel's observation that the 

 embryos have the long middle and hind legs bending around the end 

 of the abdomen, and then along the dorsal side up towards the head. 

 He gives a summary that is quoted below: 



"The eggs of the Halobates are comparatively large, about 1 mm. 

 long, elongated oval or cylindric with rounded ends. The ventral side 

 is arched, the dorsal side flat or slightly arched, the front end somewhat 

 broader than the posterior end. The color varies gradually from yellow- 

 ish-white to red, as the development advances. Chorion is solid, thicker 

 or thinner; it is simple, without sculpture, or with a more or less strongly 

 marked sculpture after the species. The sculpture is most strongly 

 marked on the ventral side and the anterior end, and decreases towards 

 the dorsal side, where it almost or wholly disappears. Only one micro- 

 pyle, situated in or very near to the front pole; it forms a canal, issuing 

 from a funnel-shaped deepening in the surface; the canal runs some- 

 what tangentially in the chorion, and is rectangularly bent. The female 

 can bear a few eggs at end of abdomen, but probably only for a rather 

 short time. The egg-laying takes place on all objects possible floating on 

 the surface of the sea. One female produces about 25 eggs. In general, 

 several or many females lay their eggs on the same object. It seems 

 as if the eggs can also be laid without being attached to any under layer, 

 so that they form a floating heap. The eggs are apparently laid without 

 definite order, or this is at any rate only very insignificant; this seems, 

 however, partly caused by the circumstances that many females lay 

 their eggs together; when groups of eggs that may be supposed to pro- 

 ceed from one female are examined, there often appears some arrange- 

 ment in a few transverse rows, following each other, and consisting of 

 parallel eggs, all with their front ends in the same direction. The eggs 

 are always deposited with the dorsal side against the substratum, the 

 ventral side upwards; they are fastened with a mass which in general 

 entirely envelops them, and which no doubt is gelatinous. The opening 

 of the egg shell occurs through its splitting in the front end, dowTi the 

 middle of the dorsal and ventral side, to a little beyond the middle, so 

 that two lateral valves are formed. The larvae probably moult very 

 soon after their escape from the shell." 



Family VELIID^ Am & Serv. 1843. 



A. Taxonomy of Veliid^. 



Family Characteristics. Surface dwellers which are usually plump 

 bodied, and broadest at the shoulders. The antennje are 4-segmented, 

 and the head is shorter than the thorax, including the scutellum. The 

 middle legs are placed about equidistant from front and hind pairs 

 (except in Rhagovelia). The hind femora do not extend much beyond 

 the apex of the abdomen. The ocelli are obselete or absent. Beak 

 3-segmented; tarsi 1- or 2-segmented in front, and 2- or 3-segmented in 

 the others. Most of these bugs are small. We have, according to Van 

 Duzee, 4 genera, Microv&lia, Macrovelia, Rhagovelia and Velia, with 

 9 species, 1 species, 4 species and 4 species respectively. 



