154 Natural History Bulletin. 



was not uncommon, being found chiefly at rest on fences, and 

 easily taken b}^ hand without the aid of a net. Two speci- 

 mens of En'stal/s viiictonim Fabr. were captured, one of 

 them being taken from the clutches of the Asilid mentioned 

 before. Of the Hymenoptera, we might mention Siiziis 

 Jwgardil Latr., a very fine wasp, reddish in color, with smoky 

 wings, the tip of the abdomen black; a small species of Poin- 

 Jy/'Iiis: a female example of Splncroplif/ialiiia fernigata Fabr., 

 which occurs also as far north as New Fngland; and a female 

 Evauia appendigastcr Linn., a curious insect of a deep black 

 color, the small subtriangular compressed abdomen appearing 

 out of all proportion to the heavy thorax." ^ 



The following interesting account of pelagic Ilemiptera is 

 quoted from an article by Mr. Wickham that appeared in 

 '•The Entomological News." FebruarN-, 1894: 



On the second of July, while at anchor near tlie Sand Key Light, a few 

 Ilalobatcs were seen near the vessel between three and four o'clock in the 

 afternoon. By getting' into a boat which was l>ing alongside, no difficulty 

 Avas experienced in capturing two or three that came within reach of the net. 

 The next da^•, while the xessel was under w;n' w itli quite a jileasant breeze, 

 they were seen again, before se\en o'clock in the morning, skimming 

 about the bows. Two or three were again taken by sitting in the chains 

 under the bow-sprit and "jabbing "at them \\\W\ a ciab-net lined with bolt- 

 ing cloth, as often as one crossed our course. By eight o'clock they were 

 less numerous. With the aid of the I^eport, previousl \- nu-ntioned, thev 

 were determined as Jlalofhifcs 7/11 lie rsforjfi Frauenf. a name afterwards 

 verified by Mr. O. Ileidemann, of Washington. 



The following day more of them were seen in Lat. 24° 24' N., Long. 70^ 

 49 W. Immediately after dinner, when the water was still, except for a 

 smooth swell, a specimen was caught in a crab-net and turned loose, with- 

 out being touched by the fingers, into a tid) of salt water on the deck. The 

 insect at once commenced to scud :iround on the surface with movements 

 so rapid that the eve could not follow them, and an^• observations on the 

 mode of locomotion were «ut of the question. In a few minutes partial 

 exhaustion succeeded these \iolent exertions, and it was then seen that the 

 long middle pair of feet did nearly all the work of progression, tlie anterior 

 pair being carried foldeil up (nearly) and projecting forwards, a little to 

 each side of the head. The antennie point forwards and outwards, form- 

 ing a V- When the bug tires, the muscles at the insertion of the legs 

 appear to weaken first, and the body is let down on to the water. It there 

 restsin very much tin- po'-ition shown in Mr. Walker's ligure in the "Entoin. 



UI. F. Wickiiam. 



