HETAERINA 265 
I have not seen adults until the middle of July, but they are often numerous 
until the middle of October, and may ordinarily be found as late as the beginning 
of that month..... It seems it is peculiarly restricted in its range of flight. 
I have never observed one so far as a few rods away from the accustomed habitat _ 
—the water’s edge. Another notable habit is that of congregating, sometimes 
in companies of hundreds. These assemblies commence in the afternoon, and do 
not disperse until the warmth of the following day awakens them to activity. 
Both sexes assemble, and they rest so compactly that I have captured seventy- 
five by one sweep of the net. The slender, drooping twigs of the willow, loaded 
with these beautiful insects, like a string of gems, present a beautiful picture. 
. I have seen the female unattended by the male, resting on a half sub- 
merged log, or algal-laden rock, or water-weed, and thrusting the abdomen 
beneath the water, place her eggs, one by one, in the soft substance. 
One of the senior author’s earliest collecting trips was made to the 
Sangamon River in Illinois. He chased the wary ruby spots up and 
down the bank with a net of pink mosquito bar, with which he was 
equipped, capturing each one with great difficulty and labor. Then 
while standing, wearied, with the net under his arm, he chanced to 
look backward over his shoulder, and there was a fine male sitting 
placidly on the rim of the net! Was the pink color a lure? He held the 
net still in front of another and lo it promptly settled on the rim. After 
that collecting was easy. The males would come and perch, almost 
inviting capture. 
255. Hetaerina tricolor Burmeister 
Burm. ’39, p. 827: Mtk. Cat. p. 33: Wmsn. 712, p. 101: Wlsn. ’12, p. 196. 
Syn: rupinsulensis Walsh, rupamnensis Walsh, Var: limbata Selys. 
Length 47 mm. Expanse 54 mm. Ill. and Pa. to Tex. and Fla. 
This is a dainty little brownish species with red spots on the fore wing and 
brown ones on the hind. Face brown, blackening upward. Thorax coppery with 
black middle carinae and sides obscurely and diffusely paler. Legs blackish with 
the tibiae paler externally. Wings subhyaline with a red spot on the base of the 
fore wing behind the radius extending outward well beyond the quadrangle and 
reaching the hind border for most of its length. Hind wing with a brown spot 
extending from the costa rearward beyond the anal vein and outward beyond 
the quadrangle, prolonged along the radius almost to the nodus. A wash of 
brown borders the wing tip. Abdomen blackish brown, darkening on the apices 
of the middle segments and on the entire dorsum of the apical segments. Sutural 
pale rings very obscure. 
256. Hetaerina titia Drury 
Drury 1773, II p. 83: Mtk. Cat. p. 33: Garm. 717, p. 474. 
Syn: bipartita Selys 
Length 51 mm. Expanse 62 mm. Tex. and Fla. 
This is an elegant brownish slender species. Face black. Thorax bronzy black 
with narrow pale lines on the three lateral sutures, confluent below with the paler 
