COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 141 



surface of each marked with eleven striae or longi- 

 tudinal lines composed of minute punctures. The 

 breast is pitch red, and the terminal segment of the 

 abdomen, together with the legs, is of a ferruginous 

 hue. 



The following lively account of the manners of 

 this species is given by a popular writer. " Water, 

 quiet, still water, affords a place of action to a very 

 amusing little fellow, which, about the middle of 

 April, if the weather be tolerably mild, we see gam- 

 boling upon the surface of the sheltered pool ; and 

 every schoolboy, who has angled for minnows in the 

 brook, is well acquainted with this merry swimmer 

 in his shining black jacket. Retiring in the autumn, 

 and reposing all the winter in the mud at the bot- 

 tom of the pond, it awakens in the spring, rises to 

 the surface, and commences its summer sports. 

 They associate in small parties of ten or a dozen, 

 near the bank, where some little projection forms a 

 bay, or renders the water particularly tranquil ; and 

 here they will circle round each other without con- 

 tention, each in his sphere, and with no apparent 

 object, from morning until night, with great spright- 

 liness and animation ; and so lightly do they move on 

 the fluid, as to form only some faint and transient 

 circles on its surface. Very fond of society, we 

 seldom see them alone, or, if parted by accident, 

 they soon rejoin their busy companions. One pool 

 commonly affords space for the amusement of seve- 

 ral parties ; yet they do not unite or contend, but 



