137 



drao;on-fly nymphs there will be caddice-worm cases like tiny cob- 

 houses, water -boatmen, back- 

 swinnners, and giant water-bugs.* 

 These are insects characteristic of 

 still or sluggish water, and are 

 found in spring and summer. 



The insects which skip lightly 

 over the surface of the water 

 where the current is not too 

 strong, are water-striders. (See 

 Fig. 89.) Some are short and 



89. — Water-striders have long, thin legs. 



stout, others slender-bodied ; but all have 

 long, thin legs. Their color is nearly black. 

 As they scurry about in the sunshine the 

 delighted watcher will sometimes catch a 

 glimpse of their reflections on the bottom. 

 Six oval bits of shadow, outlined by rims of 

 light ; there is nothing else like it ! Be 

 sure you see it. 



Let us leave the quiet, restful pools and 

 the sluggish bays and follow the hurrying 

 water to the rapids. Every stone changes 

 the course of the current and the babble 

 makes glad the heart of the wayfarer. Let 

 us " leave no stone unturned " until we 

 have routed from his favorite haunt that 

 genius of the rapids, the Dobson. (See Fig. 

 90.) These creatures bear other common 

 names and are prized by fishermen in the 

 black bass season. Dirty brown in color and 

 frankly ugly in appearance and disposition, 

 these larvse, for such they are, have little 

 to fear from the casual visitor at the water's 

 edge. When a stone is lifted the Dobsons 

 beneath it allow themselves to be hurried 

 along for some distance by the current. The danger over, they 



90. — The Dohson makes 

 no pretei. nions to beauty 

 {natural size). 



* These and others forms found in still or slow flowing water are described 

 and pictured in Leaflet No. 11, Life in an Aquarium. 

 34 539 



