THE WHERRYMEN OR WATER STRIDERS. 981 



feebly curved, as long- as the others united; 2 and 3 enlarged at tip, 3 

 shorter, 4 stouter, fusiform, slightly longer than 3. Hind tarsi 1-jointed; 

 front ones with claws placed one-third in front of tip. Length, 3 — 5 mm. 



Kosciusko and Marion counties, Ind., Aug. 12 — Sept. 23 

 (W.S.B.). New Lenox, 111., Aug. 5 (Gerhard). Raleigh, N. 

 Car., Sept. 3 — Oct. 17 (Brimley). In Marion County numerous 

 small colonies were found in little bays of the quiet waters of 

 White River. Ranges from Ontario and New England west to 

 Michigan and Kansas and southwest to South Carolina. Uhler 

 (1884, 271) calls it: "A merry active little insect which moves 

 very rapidly over the water by rowing with its long middle 

 legs and occasionally jumps from the water to grasp mos- 

 quitoes, flies and other insects. The eggs are attached during 

 early summer to the projecting twigs, leaves and stems of 

 water plants and by the middle of that season multitudes of 

 the young may be seen in company with the adults on the 

 bayed-out quiet parts of our inland streams." The winged 

 form is apparently very scarce. 



IV. Rheumatobates Bergroth, 1892a, 321. 



Very small oblong or oblong-oval species having the head 

 quadrate, wider across eyes than long, its blunt tylus projected 

 forward between the bases of antennae ; eyes very large, coarse- 

 ly granulated ; antennas of males curiously curved and armed 

 with several short acute spines ; pronotum much wider than 

 long, its front and hind margins truncate ;mesonotum (brachyp- 

 terous form) subquadrate, three or more times as long as 

 pronotum ; elytra rarely present ; front legs short, stout, the 

 tibia less than half the length of femur, the basal joint of tarsi 

 very small, the second joint with apical half flattened beneath 

 and claws inserted near the middle ; middle legs very long and 

 slender, the tibiae and usually the femora of male fringed on 

 the inner side with long hairs. 



Five species are known, three from our territory. Of the 

 strange antennae and other secondary sexual characters of the 

 males of our eastern species Bergroth (1908, 379) has written 

 as follows : 



"The hind legs of the male are incrassated, curved and deformed in 

 a curious way with singular chitinous processes, making them unique 

 in their monstrousness among all known Heteroptera. The structure of 

 the male antennas is also very remarkable and unprecedented among other 

 Heteroptera. They much remind one of the male antennas in the Collem- 



