BUGS. 207 



France, in company witli small beetles of similar habits, belong- 

 ing to the genus Aepns, Leach, which it superdcially resembles. 



Family XIII. — Galgulidce. 



Head and body broad, the latter short and flattened ; eyes 

 pedunculated ; ocelli present ; antennae four-jointed, placed below 

 the eyes; hind legs formed for running; habits carnivorous. 



This family only includes a few American species, which are 

 brown, sometimes spotted with yellow. They are found among 

 aquatic plants, or on the edge of the water, but are not, strictly 

 speaking, aquatic insects, any more than the Saldidce, which they 

 somewhat resemble in their habits. 



Family XIV. — Nepidce. 



Body flattened, rather long ; head of moderate size ; front legs 

 raptorial ; hind legs long and slender, formed for swimming ; 

 habits aquatic and carnivorous. 



The species of this family are not very numerous, but are of 

 considerable interest. They are of large size, and very fierce and 

 voracious. The genus Belostoma, Latr., found in the East Indies 

 and America, includes the largest species of Hemiptera Heteroptera, 

 some of which measure four and a half inches in length, and 

 nearly six in expanse of wing; the front wings are of a light 

 brown colour, varied with yellowish, and the hind wings are 

 whitish. There is no doubt that their food partly consists of 

 small fish, frogs, etc., as well as of water-insects. These insects 

 are of a depressed oval form, and about three times as long as 

 broad, but the genus Zaitha, Amyot, includes much shorter and 

 broader species. Belostoma deposits its eggs in a cluster by the 

 side of the water ; and the natives of Mexico and South America 

 employ them as articles of food. The females of Zaitha and ot 

 several allied genera pack their eggs into a compact layer on their 

 backs, and carry them about with them. 



Naucoris Cimkoides, Linn., is a greenish-yellow insect about 

 half an inch long, which is common in pools and streams. It 

 swims with great rapidity by day, but quits the water and flies 

 about at night. 



Two other species of this family are likewise British, both of 

 wliich are remarkable for the long breathing-tube at the extremity 

 of the body. One is Nejia Cinerea, Linn., the Water Scorpion, a 

 brown insect, with the abdomen red beneath. It measures nearly 



