THREAD-LEGGED BUGS, 31 
ing among the duckweeds in small ponds; here it wanders about 
over the green alge and other floating material. 
All the bugs thus far mentioned were either strictly aquatic 
or were found only near water, obtaining their food from it. 
The next families are terrestrial or aerial, and none have their 
feelers concealed, but have them stand forth prominently from 
the sides of the head. 
FAMILY EMESIDAE. 
(Thread-legged Bugs). 
This small family of very peculiar bugs is so closely allied 
to the following that some authors unite the two. They agree 
in having a short beak, fastened to the tip of the head; this beak. 
Fic. 23.—Emesa longipes De Geer. Original. 
when not in use, rests in a groove of the prosternum. The 
Emesidz have a very slender body, with long and thread-like 
middle and hind legs; the front legs are also very long, but 
are adapted for grasping, as in the Preying Mantis; the coxa 
of the front leg is greatly elongated, more than four times as 
long as thick; the femur is spined; the tibia bends back upon 
the femur, thus completing a grasping organ. .The feelers are 
also very long, resembling the middle legs. Insects belonging 
to this family possess no ocelli; these are present in the species 
of the next family. 
Only one species, illustrated in Fig. 23, is fairly common 
in Minnesota. It is the Emesa longipes DeGeer, a very odd- 
