﻿The Life History of Two Species of Nabidae 161 



are semicircular in shape, tei-minatiiig in a sharp spine, directed 

 upward in normal position. The posterior portion of the elasper 

 is much smaller than the anterior end and is slightly twisted out 

 of the same plane. It bears a number o£ hairs on the upper 

 surface. 



The ovipositor of the female is very similar to that of N. rosei- 

 pennis and the act of oviposition is very similar. The laying- 

 period began about June 13tli and extended to about July 9th. 

 This also might be somewhat in error as some of the nabids prob- 

 ably had begun to lay before they were captured. N. rufusculus 

 favored the grass-stalk as a place to oviposit, though this particu- 

 lar species is known to oviposit in certain fruits such as blue- 

 berries, as was shoAvn by Woods (1915) in his paper on "Blue- 

 berry Insects in Maine." 



The Egg 



The egg of N. rufusculus is about 1.4 mm. long, elongate-oval in 

 shape and bent at the distal end much as that of N. roseipennis, 

 though not quite so sharply (Figs. 5 and 8). It is whitish in 

 color and glistening. The striking difference between the eggs of 

 the two species besides shape is the covering at the distal end. 

 In N. rufusculus it is a flat cap nearly circular in outline, and 

 flanged, fitting into the egg much like the cover fits into a milk 

 can "(Figs. 6, 7). 



The incubation period is between thirteen and eighteen days. 

 The phenomenon of hatching is similar to that of N. roseipennis, 

 the 3'oung nymph pushing the egg-cap ahead of it until this slips 

 off the head and falls at tlie side of the cavity, still attached to 

 the shell. This connection is made by means of a double filament, 

 elbowed or bent in a similar manner to that of the other species 

 (Fig. 7). The empty egg-shell appears as an irregular opening 

 at the surface of the grass-stalk. 



FmsT Instar 



The nymphs on first hatching are about 1 mm. long, nearly 

 colorless, becoming whitish after a short time. They resem.ble the 

 nymphs of N. roseipennis very much. The nymph is bluntly 

 pointed at each end ; proboscis transparent and very long, reach- 

 ing beyond metathoracic coxae ; legs very long and transparent ; 

 coxae large, prominent and clear; distal segment of tarsi longer 

 than proximal segment and dark at end ; thorax with small median 

 furrow on dorsum of first two segments, the anterior edge of the 

 metathorax depressed below the level of the abdomen ; each seg- 

 ment of thorax bearing four prominent hairs on dorsal surface 

 similar to those of N. roseipennis in arrangement; abdomen arched, 

 segments each with four hairs, those along margins arising from 

 spiracles, the spiracle of the sixth segment being the largest and 

 ha^ang the longest hair; abdomen with three large whii.e spots 

 on central dorsum of segments three, four and five, respectively; 

 eyes large, semicircular in lateral outline and reddish-brown in 

 color ; two prominent hairs above each eye ; antennae hairy and 



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