Nepidae 3 T 3 



as controls were constantly aerated, and each was supplied with sprigs 

 of Ceratophyllum. All aquaria were filled with pond water. Careful 

 regulation of the air was necessary to prevent too vigorous bubbling. 

 With strict attention to details Notonecta and Plea were easily reared, 

 but several attempts were necessary to get the full life story for the 

 Buenoae. The mortality due to molting was considerable, as must also 

 be true in the ponds; and nematodes seemed to cause the death of many. 



M. E. D. 



Family naucoridae 



PELOCORIS CAROLINENSIS* 



A LARGE number of rearings were started in April when eggs were 

 laid, attached to a sprig of Nitella. The incubation period varied 

 from 32 to 45 days with the majority requiring 39 to 40 days. By the 

 time the eggs were ready to hatch the plant sprigs to which they were 

 attached were dead and in some cases in a state of disintegration. 



Since Pelocoris caroUnensis is fiercely predacious it was necessary to 

 isolate each newly hatched nymph. Each specimen was placed in a tall 

 stender dish or jelly glass half full of water and supplied with a sprig 

 of Nitella. Mosquito wrigglers, Chironomus larvae, corixids, and Ento- 

 mostraca were given as food and the water was replaced by fresh pond 

 water at frequent intervals. There was something grievously wrong with 

 the rearing technique for only nine specimens were reared to the adult 

 stage out of 134 isolations. Several females mated and laid eggs. 



M. E. D. 



Family nepidae 



CURICTA DRAKEI** 



SEVERAL pairs of adult Curicta drakei were collected and the pairs 

 placed in separate glasses. Small glass containers were used with 

 gauze tied over the tops. Sand and a few pieces of water plants were 

 placed in the bottoms and made rather wet. 



Like Nepa, Curicta is a mud-loving bug. When the adults were given 

 mud, rotten wood, decayed vegetation, and live water plants, the mud 

 was always chosen for the deposition of the eggs. Both nymphs and 

 adults are fond of getting out of the water and lying close to the ground, 

 where they are hardly discernible. 



* Abstracted from an article in Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc. 22:77, 1927. by H. B. Hunger- 

 ford, University of Kansas. 



** Abstracted from an article in Kan. Univ. Sci. Bull. 14:507, 1922, and one in Ent. 

 News 35:324, 1924, by Grace Olive Wiley. 



