172 Journal New York Entomological Society. [Voi. xi. 



filled and buoyant cast skin for a moment, until the wings are perfectly 

 expanded. Then it begins to swim about quite rapidly, coming to 

 rest once more, seemingly requiring something to hang to. There 

 appears to be an undue amount of air under the insect's wings while 

 it is in this condition, and it remains back up while swimming. The 

 tracheal lining may be seen as Pelocoris emerges, connecting the 

 sternum with the cast skin. 



Pelocoris, immediately after the last ecdysis, is entirely of a beauti- 

 ful light green like aquamarine, including the hemelytra and the limbs 

 excepting the tibiae, which are dark from the swimming hairs. The 

 eyes are a dark ruby-red. The insect gradually grows darker, and 

 about four hours after the change it is a mottled dark green. The full 

 mature coloration is reached in about i 2 hours. 



Pelocoris femorata, therefore, as has been shown, has seven instars, 

 namely : one embryonic, five nymphal and one adult. The embry- 

 onic stage lasts about 24 days; the first nymphal instar, about eight; 

 the second, about nine ; the third, about eight, the fourth, about 

 twelve ; and the fifth and last about 16 days. The adult overwinters 

 and begins to breed in the spring, oviposition taking place earlier or 

 later in the season, according to the temperature ; and the life-cycle 

 is completed about the beginning of }v\y or later, governed by cir- 

 cumstances. The adult may, under favorable conditions, live for over 

 a year, and oviposition seems to be continuous during the summer, 

 giving a number of overlapping broods from overwintering adults. 



The last conclusion is borne out by the fact that on the same day 

 and at the same place, as previously stated, I have taken Pelocoris in 

 the second to the fifth nymphal instars. The measurements of these in 

 conjunction with those taken from my bred specimens, give ranges in 

 size as follows, for the instars observed. All measurements are from 

 the living or freshly killed insect. 



