CHAPTER II. 



LIFE-HISTORY. 



Watch the surface of a boggy pool on a bright 

 summer or autumn da}-, and it will be strange if females 

 of Syuipetruiii striolatuiii are not to be seen busih- 

 engaged in the act of ovipositing. This the}' accomplish 

 by repeatecll}' dipping the extremity of their abdomen 

 in the water, and on each occasion dropping one or 

 more eggs. The male of this species usually accom- 

 panies the female, and, by clasping her at the neck 

 with the anal appendages at the extremity of his bod}-, 

 perhaps assists in keeping her poised above the water. 

 This attachment of the male to the female, /^^^r colliiiii, as 

 it is called (Fig. ij, is reall}- the first step in striking up an 

 amator}- acquaintance, but is not immediately concerned 

 in the fertilisation of the ova, which is accomplished in 

 a somewhat peculiar manner. The ninth segment of the 

 abdomen of the male bears on the ventral surface the 

 organs of secretion of the fertilising fluid, which b}' 

 cur\ing his abdomen under he removes to a receptacle 

 in the second segment. While the female is held per coll. 

 b}- the male she bends her abdomen round in such a 

 wa}' that the ninth segment is applied to the second 



