144 THE UNIVERSITY SCIENCE BULLETIN. 



Genus BELOSTOMA Latr. 

 There have been abundant biological notes in the literature regarding 

 the common species of this genus. Most of these notes are under the 

 heading Zaitha fiuminea. The above-named species has been reared 

 by Bueno and the nymphs described. The writer has also studied this 

 species and reared it, adding some points to those recorded. Of these 

 smaller Belostomatids there are nine species and two varieties in 

 America north of Mexico, according to Van Duzee. Of these only three 

 are general in distribution. The others are western, or neotropical. 

 Those to be looked for generally are B. fluminebc^B. lutarium and B. 

 testaceum. 



Belostoma fiumineum Say. 



Habitat. Uhler said it "abounds in mud or among the weeds of 

 ponds and streams." Miss Slater found them most abundantly in 

 shallow water quite near the shore, clinging to the under side of aquatic 

 plants, especially Marsilia. The writer finds them in the muddy Kansas 

 ponds, clinging to sticks and boards or trash projecting above the sur- 

 face. In collecting, these facts should be kept in mind, Severin & 

 Severin showed that 32 out of 35 crawled under a bit of cork in the 

 shallow water. 



Hibernation. Like the other water bugs, they winter as adults in the 

 trash or mud about the pool. Doctor Welch, in Nature Study Revieio 

 (1912), has noted this in one of his popular papers on water insect life. 



Mating. — Mating takes place in the water, and lasts intermittently 

 for hours. Bueno was the first to note that oviposition is frequently 

 interrupted by the female for the purpose of mating. 



Oviposition. This is perhaps the most interesting of all of this bug's 

 activities. It was long ago noted that the eggs are carried upon the 

 back, but early writers ascribed this to the female. Miss Slater, 1899, 

 was the first to correct the matter in this country, though she seemed to 

 be unaware of the work of Schmidt, 1895. She first observed that the 

 egg carriers were all males, and later had the opportunity to witness an 

 aquarium struggle in which the female tried to place her burden upon 

 her mate. Bueno described the process at some length: 



"The female places herself on top of the male, her thorax extending 

 outward and her legs hooked under him; now, starting somewhere near 

 the middle and sidling along every little while, she works her way 

 around him as she fastens her eggs on his back by means of the water 

 proof glue secreted for that purpose. The male all the while hangs from 

 the surface, back up, with his legs curled up under him, bravely bearing 

 up under his burden." 



The male, he says, dislikes this "forced servitude." Mr. Bueno 

 thinks the eggs are placed in this unusual place to keep them from the 

 voracious appetites of the adults, for he has seen males seize and 

 greedily suck eggs that had been accidentally dislodged. 



Incubation. The length of the egg stage lasts from one to two weeks, 

 as a rule. The egg, which is very large in proportion to the adult when 



