384 



Marvels of Insect Life, 



with wings, so that they may be presumed to spend their entire existence, generation 

 after generation, on the surface of the sea, often many hundreds of miles from the 

 nearest land. Their eggs have been found attached to a floating bird's feather, 

 pumice, and cuttle-bones, but in some cases the female carries her eggs about until 

 they hatch. The Cliallenger naturalists were constantly finding" these sea- 

 skaters in the towing nets, both in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. They are some- 

 times found on shallow water near the shore. They are believed to shelter from 

 storms by retiring to a sufficient depth to be clear of the agitation of the surface 

 waters. 



Just as the pond - skaters get a living by sucking the juices of aerial 

 Insects that have had the misfortune to fall into the pond or ditch, so the 



Photo by] 



Lace-wing Flv. 



[H. Maui, F.E.S. 



These exceedingly' graceful and delicate Insects are among the most valuable of the gardener's allies, laying their eggs where tlie 

 green-fly are thickest, that the resulting grubs may feed upon the pest. The wings are green and lace-like, anci the con- 

 spicuous eyes brilliant. Slightly enlarged. 



sea-skaters are believed to subsist chiefly upon the juices of small animals 

 recently dead that float upon the surface of the sea. Also like the pond- 

 skaters, they are found in little companies on the sea. But the nearest approach 

 in form to the sea-skaters among fresh-water bugs is supplied by a species 

 native of North America and the West Indies, ^ whose hinder legs suggest 

 a distinctly gouty tendency, as indicated in its scientific name. In this species 

 the middle pair of legs are of great length, and the first pair very short. The 

 antennae of the male are developed into prehensile organs with which to hold the 

 female. The species whose photograph appears on page 382 is Mullenstorff's 

 sea-skater.^ 



^ Rheumatobates bergrothi. 



- Halobates muUenstorfii. 



