WATER BEETLES 41 



does. If we visit the pools in April, and again 

 about the end of August, we shall most likely 

 find numbers of these tiny, white, silken cases 

 fastened to the weeds or floating on the top 

 of the water. 



The grubs which come from the eggs in the 

 cocoons are quaint little beings, with large 

 heads and great big jaws. They seem always 

 to be in a state of great excitement, and wriggle 

 about and snap their jaws at every tiny 

 creature that moves in the water. These 

 little grubs are generally found in quite shallow 

 pools, where they can easily push their tails 

 above the water, for, like the grubs of the 

 larger beetles, the little things breathe through 

 their tails. If they happen to tumble into 

 deep water they hang from the surface, head 

 downwards, drinking in the air from a little 

 cup at the end of their tails all the time. And 

 while they hang suspended in the water they 

 wriggle and twist and bend themselves this 

 way and that way, trying to catch other wee 

 water folk as they go floating by. 



At other times the grubs of the Small Water- 

 beetle may be seen crawling about the bottom 

 of the pool with large air-bubbles on the end 

 of their tails ; but if the water should be too 



