THE 



QUARTERLY JOURNAL 



OF THE 



BOSTON ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 

 Vol. III. January, 1884. No. i. 



NOTES ON THE HABITS OF HYDROCHARIS 

 OBTUSATUS SAT AND MAGDALIS OLYRA 

 HERBST. 



By F. a BoKJclitch. 



Hydrocharis OBTUSATUS Sciy, On April 19, 1877, four 

 imagos were put in an aquarium, and one pair almost 

 immediately copulated; a few days later I noticed the 

 female in a corner, apparently ovipositing, a long filament 

 of what I now take to be silk, or something of that nature, 

 protruding from her abdomen; a few days after, about April 

 23, a curious triangular sh-aped object, about the size of a 

 large beech-nut and covered with an old leaf appeared float- 

 ing on the surface of the water. One of the sides was upper- 

 most and from the edge of the side of the base protruded a 

 curved and apparently hollow tube al)out one-quarter of an 

 inch long, and extending backwards and upwards; its pur- 

 pose is not evident but it would seem as if it might have 

 something to do with ventilation or respiration. A day 

 or two later another egg case appeared. 



