310 



Records of the S.A. Museum 



The odour whieli is cliaractfrislic of Hetoropterous bugs generally is notice- 

 able, but not prononneed, in menibei-s of this family. 



Habits. Witli the aid of the oar-like hind-legs tlie (Jorixidac propel 

 themselves rapidly througii the water, or anchor themselves to aquatic plants or 

 other sul)ni('rged objects by means of the long intermediate tarsal claws; a copious 

 suj)ply of air is carried under water, and the insects remain below the surface for 

 long periods. Living animal food is captured with the anterior legs, with whicii 

 ])rey is firndy grasped while the nutriment is extracted. Professor H. 13. 

 Hungerrord(-) states that they are largely herbivorous, and under his observation 

 a species subsisted throughout the life cycle upon the broAvn sedimentary material 

 whicii occurs on the bottoms of pools. In 187:} F. B. White(=^) wrote: "On 

 examining a stone from which a Corixa had apparently been obtaining food, a 



Tarsal stridnlatory comb 



I 

 I 



A ^-^^^fc B 



Fig. i3H. Arctocorisa aitstralis: .\, profile of head: B, anterior leg of male. 



small AUja and a few Rot If era and other animalcules were seen." The Indian 

 Mk'vuiucta strl(ita{^) {Corixa orivora Westwood) is reported to feed upon the 

 eggs of fishes. 



For months 1 kept in aquaria several species of Corixidae, as well as members 

 of Notonectidae and Nancoridae, and during that time they were fed only upon 

 larvae of Cnh.i: fatigans and l:^ci(toini/la notoscripta. Even newly-hatched 

 Corixidae were observed to capture tiny mosquito larvae, increasingly large 

 examples being taken during the successive stages of the metamorphosis. If, as 



(2) Hungerford, Science, ii.s., xlv, 1917. p. 3.36. 

 (a) White, Eiit. Month. Mag., x, 1873, p. 79. 

 (4) Westwood, Pioc. Ent. Soc, 1871, p. iv. 



