﻿2. 

 VELIA RIVULORUM. 



Order Hemiptera. Fam. Hydrometidae Leach. Cimicldes Liot. 



Type of the Genus Gerris currens Fah. 



Velia Lat., Leach. Hydrometra Fah. — Gerris Fab., Coq. — Cimex Rossi. 

 Antennce porrected, filiform, subgeniculate, inserted considerably before 

 the eyes in a cavity on each side the nasus, as long as the thorax, 4- 

 jointed, basal joint rather the longest and stoutest, remainder Oi 

 nearly equal length, the last conical at the apex (fig. 4). 

 Labrum short, dilated at the base, somewhat tongue-shaped, the sides 

 membranous transversely striated (3). 

 Tongue none ? 



Mandibles and MaxillcB very long and slender, capillary, received into 

 the labium or rostrum (2*c), 



Labium^ long, horny, inflected, attenuated (2), 3-jointed^ 1st joint 



short, globose at the base (2* a) 2nd very long, attenuated (b), 3rd 



short and slender. 



Head small, somewhat vertical. Eyes globose, very prominent ( 1). Thorax 



much broader than the head. Scutellum none ? Abdomen jiat above, 



convex beneath ; sides very much elevated and terminating in a spine on. 



each side the anal joints, which are more produced in the males than in the 



females. Elytra and Wings sometimes wanting. Legs very remote at their 



insertion except the anterior pair which are the shortest, and raptorious ; 



middle pair rather longer than the posterior. Thighs ; posterior robust and 



serrated beneath in the males. Tibias simple, the middle pair ciliated. 



Tarsi ; anterior very short, middle pair the longest; 3-jointed, basal joint 



very minute, 2nd the longest except in the anterior pair, in which the 3rd 



is the longest. Claws very slender, inserted laterally in a fissure (6, a fore 



leg). J 



RivuLORUM Fab.Ent. Syst. v. 4. p. 189. n. 5. 



Dark brown, velvety. Thorax projecting like a scutellum over the 

 abdomen, deeply punctured, with two gray spots in front, and an 

 orange mark between them ; sides of the thorax and abdomen deep 

 orange, the latter black at the base and apex, a black spot on the 

 elevated edge of each segment, and a line of contiguous black spots 

 down each side. Elytra with a long white spot at the base and 3 round 

 ones down the middle of each. Wings fuscous with darker nervures. 

 In the Author's and other Cabinets. 



^ This is called the Rostrum ; it is the analogue of the labium, and is similar to that 

 part in the Diptera, being hollow and open above to receive the other trophi. The 

 greatest difference seems to be in the absence of a tongue ; the 4 setae united probably 

 form a tube which would supersede the necessity of such an organ. In figure 2* the 

 part distinguished at a, may be analogous to the mentum, and b to the bilobed fleshy lip 

 of the Diptera, which in this order is horny. 



