. THE WATER GNATS. 575 



and much easier to say. But when he employs the word sub, 

 which is Latin, as a prefix to the Grreek pteron, I do not see 

 that we should be called upon to excoriate our own ears and 

 those of future generations with such an atrocious compound. 



I believe that brown sugar and oysters are considered incom- 

 patible, as is salt with strawberry cream. There is, perhaps, 

 not one in ten thousand who would not feel direfuUy aggrieved 

 by having any such mixtures forced on him as part of his 

 daily diet. And there is really no more reason for offending 

 our eyes, ears, ^nd nasntal taste by subapterus, than our mere 

 palates by the above-mentioned mixtures. 



The general colour of this insect is dusky black, relieved by a 

 clothing of short, yellow hairs. Beneath it is yellowish-brown. 

 The ocelli are red and the antennae pale brown. The mem- 

 branous portion of the short wing is rather contracted, and the 

 nervures are black. It is found in dry, sandy places, hiding 

 under heath, furze, and other plants. When handled, it gives 

 out an odour which, unlike those of most of its kind, is of a 

 pleasant nature, and bears some resemblance to that of a ripe 

 pear. Although in most cases the wings of this insect are in 

 the imperfect state which has just been described, they are 

 sometimes, but very rarely, fully developed. 



We now come to that group of Heteroptera which has 

 been mentioned as passing most of their time on, though not 

 in, the water. They are scientifically called Hydrometridae, or 

 Water-measurers, because they seem to measure the surface of 

 the water with their long and slender legs ; and they are 

 popularly known by the name of Water-gnats, because the 

 smaller specimens have some resemblance to gnats without 

 their wings. Two specimens of this group are given on 

 Woodcut LXVIII., in order to show the aspect of the insect 

 in different attitudes. 



In all these insects the body is long, narrow, and is mostly 

 covered on the under-surface with a fine coating of velvet-like 

 hairs, which are capable of resisting the action of the water. 

 The beak is rather long, curved under the breast, and the last 

 joint but one is considerably longer than the others. Some of 

 them run over the surface of the water with great speed, their 

 middle pair of legs acting as propellers, their hind legs as 



