368 AN INTRODUCTION TO ENTOMOLOGY 



Family GELASTOCORID^ 



The Toad-shaped Bugs 



The GelastocSridae was formerly known as the GalguHdce; conse- 

 quently most of the references to these insects will be found under 

 the older family name, which has been dropped, as the generic name 

 Galgidus, on which it was based, is not tenable. 



In these insects the body is broad and short, and the eyes are 

 prominent and projecting; the form of the body and the protuberant 

 eyes remind one of a toad (Fig. 423). Ocelli are present. The an- 

 tenna; are short and nearly or quite concealed beneath the eyes. The 

 beak is short, stout, and four-segmented. The fore legs are raptorial. 

 The toad-shaped bugs live on the muddy margins 

 of streams or other bodies of water. Some of them make 

 holes for themselves, and live for a part of the time 

 beneath the ground. They feed upon other insects, 

 which they capture by leaping suddenly upon them. 

 Their colors are protective and vary so as to agree with 

 Fig. 423 -—Ge/- ^j^g color of the soil on which they live. Hungerford 

 latus. ' h^s found that the eggs are buried in the sand. Only 



five species are known to occur in this country. 

 The most common and most widely distributed representative of 

 the family found in this country is Gelastocoris oculdtiis (Fig. 423). 

 Two other species of Gelastocoris are found in the Southern and 

 Western States. In this genus the hemelytra are not fused and the 

 fore tarsi are two-clawed. 



In the genus Mononyx, of which a single species, Mononyxfuscipes, 

 is found in California, the hemelytra are free, but the fore tarsi are 

 one-clawed. 



The genus Nerthra is also represented in this country by a single 

 species, Nerthra stygtea, which is found in Georgia and Florida. In 

 this genus the hemelytra are fused together along a straight suture 

 indicated by a groove. 



Family OCHTERID^ 



The Ochterids 



These are shore-inhabiting bugs, which are closely allied to the 

 preceding family, in which they were formerly classed. They differ 

 from the toad-shaped bugs in having the fore legs slender and fitted 

 for running, and in having the short antennas exposed. They resemble 

 the following family, the Saldidas, in having the beak long, reaching 

 the hind coxa;. The eyes are prominent, and tvvo ocelli are present. 



The family includes a single genus, Ochteriis, which, due to an 

 error, has been commonly known as Pelogonus. Only three species 

 occur in the United States ; one of these was described from Virginia, 

 one from Florida, and the third is widely distributed from the At- 

 lantic Coast to Arizona. 



