﻿152 New York State College of Forestry 



anterior end of the clasper is expanded into a thin, flat area, the 

 upper margin of which terminates in a spine-like process. 



The claspers of N. roscipennis compared with those of N. rufus- 

 euliis show a considerable difference in shape. The form of clasper 

 varies for each species of the family and has served as one of the 

 specific characters of the species. 



The Ovipositor 



The ovipositor of the female is quite prominent and located on 

 the postero-ventral side of the abdomen. The last segment has 

 in its surface a wide groove, and it is in this that the folded 

 ovipositor lies. It is cylindrical for about two-thirds its length, 

 but at the extreme posterior third is expanded into a structure 

 consisting of two closely approximated, spoon-shaped parts. The 

 entire ovipositor is quite hairy, the longest hairs being on the 

 posterior end. 



On dissection, the external egg apparatus is seen to consist of 

 six parts arranged in three pairs. The first or outermost pair 

 forms an enclosing sheath and is translucent, the dark stylets 

 showing through them as a long, brown streak, when they are 

 closed. They are hollowed-out and slightly curved, the extreme 

 posterior portion being spoon-shaped as stated above. The middle 

 pair consists of two long, narrow stylets, brown in color and very 

 hard and chitinous. They are also slightly curved and grooved 

 to accommodate the third or innermost pair. These are a little 

 shorter and heavier than the middle pair and their points are 

 spirally-serrated. This third pair is also widely grooved and when 

 placed in approximation forms a tube througli which the egg passes 

 and is placed in position in the stalk or leaf. 



In Fig. 29 the second and third pairs are drawn as they are 

 normally fitted into one another. In Fig. 30, the ovipositor of 

 N. rufuscuhis, these parts are shown entirely separated and may 

 be referred to for N. roseipennis because of the similarity. 



Considerable force is used by the nabid in piercing a stem with 

 the stylets and this led to a search for some supporting structures 

 at the base of the ovipositors. 



Just under the chitinous covering of the last abdominal segment 

 was found what might be called a supporting or reinforcing struc- 

 ture. It consists of two pairs of arched chitinous bands connecting 

 the base of the ovipositors with two other chitinous bands running 

 posteriorily along the lateral edges of the last segment on each side 

 and just inside the connexivium. From the middle point of each 

 side of the sheath of the ovipositors a band is given off perpendicu- 

 larly to the sheath and curving over the abdomen uniting with 

 the lateral bands near the junction of the first two and their union 

 with the lateral bands. There is also a third band, a continuation 

 of the anterior ends of the lateral bands, which arches over the 

 segment just anterior to the bases of the ovipositors. This band 

 completes the several structures of the region. 



