988 FAMILY XXXII. — VELIID^E. 



aa. Front tarsi 1- or 3-jointed; first antennal longest. 



b. Middle tarsi with third joint split, the cleft with a tuft of feathery 

 hairs (fig. 199, c) ; front tarsi 1-jointed; color black or leaden- 

 gray. II. Rhagovelia, p. 995. 

 bb. Middle tarsi not split and without feathery hairs; front tarsi 3- 

 jointed; color brown or brownish-yellow. III. Velia, p. 999. 



I. Microvelia Westwood, 1834, 647. 



Very small, oblong, rather robust species having the head 

 convex, usually with a median impressed line, inserted in 

 thorax to eyes, its front portion obtusely conical ; eyes promi- 

 nent, coarsely granulated ; winged form with pronotum highest 

 and widest near middle, its front portion with a more or less 

 distinct collar, humeral angles prominent, hind portion pro- 

 longed, subdepressed and obtusely triangular; elytra when 

 present, membranous, with few cells, reaching tip of abdomen ; 

 connexivum elevated, usually not or but feebly exposed ; legs 

 short, rather stout, subequal in length, femora unarmed ; front 

 tarsi 2-jointed, middle and hind ones 3-jointed, the basal joint 

 very small, joint 3 longest with tarsal claws inserted before its 

 apex. 



Of the members of this genus Bueno has written (1923, 

 419) : 



"It contains not only the smallest of the water-striders, but also of 

 all the water-dwellers among our Eastern Hemiptera. It is probably the 

 most abundant as to numbers and species, and the most widely dis- 

 tributed, since it is known from all the continents, nearly all islands and 

 occurs in every zoological region. Be it pond, lake or stream, it is al- 

 ways possible to secure these tiny beings hiding among the grasses or 

 walking about the banks or stalking their game on the green fields of 

 duck-weed floating on some placid pool. As regards wing length the 

 members of this genus are dimorphic, or even polymorphic and the winged 

 and wingless forms are so notably different that they have been fre- 

 quently taken for distinct species." 



Ten species have been recorded from the eastern states, but 

 two of these, described by Uhler'" 1 from the West Indies, are of 

 very doubtful occurrence in this country. 



'"The only North American record of his M. marginata is that of Uhler (1894a. 

 219). who states that "it occurs in the United States from Florida to Northern New 

 Jersey.'' The principal distinctive characters as given by him in his original de- 

 scription (1893. 719) are: "Dull black with pronotum bordered with orange; elytra 

 black, bluntly rounded at tip ; abdomen beneath with lateral margin broadly fulvous. 

 Antenme stout, third and fourth joints longer than the others, the fourth longest ; 

 basal Joint thicker than the others, pale beneath, much longer than second. Length, 

 2.2 mm." As far as known it is not represented in any collection in this country 

 and is therefore not included in this work. Of the other. M. robusta Uhl. (1894a, 

 219). the only North American record which can be found is that of Van Duzee (1917, 

 434) from Florida. Since he cites only the original description, where it is men- 

 tioned only from Grenada, it, also, is not further considered. 



