42 LIMNOBATINA. 



FAMILY 2. VELIID^E. 



Stout, oval, broadest across the pronotum ; usually apterous. 

 Head short, 5- sided, convex, vertical in front ; Face short. An- 

 tenncB 5 or 6-jointed, the third (or third and fifth) minute. Eyes 

 large, close to the pronotum. Ocelli 2 or 0. Rostrum 3-jointed, 

 lying on the sternum. Pronotum 5-sided, short, subrhomboidal ; 

 scutellar process triangular. Elytra flat; nerves strong, forming 

 4 6 closed cells. Sternum not so wide as the pronotum ; sheaths 

 of the second and third pairs of coxes oblique or vertical, each 

 pair nearly the same distance apart transversely. Legs not very 

 long ; first pair shortest, second pair slightly longest ; tibia thin ; 

 tarsi trimerous, or 2-jointed on the first pair, on second and third 

 pairs the second joint longer or shorter than the first. 



Abdomen very convex beneath ; Connexivum broad, reflexed, on the sixth 

 segment produced posteriorly or rounded. Gen. 1, Velia ; 2, Microvelia. 



SECTION 2.LIMNOBATINA. 

 Limnobatidse, Fieb. 



Structure hard. Form elongate, very narrow and sublinear. Head 

 very long, subcylindrical, widened to the front behind the face, 

 which is very short. Antennas very long, filiform, 4-jointed. Eyes 

 large, hemispherical, deeply inserted near the middle of the sides of 

 the head. Ocelli 0. Rostrum 3-jointed. Thorax very long : Pro- 

 notum and Mesonotvm united into one piece, produced posteriorly ;* 

 Metanotum depressed, as long as the pro- and mesonotum together ; 

 Elytra very narrow, rarely as long as the abdomen, generally only 

 as long as the metanotum. Sternum : coxal sheaths progressively 

 longer and more prominent -at the sides ; first pair vertical, second 

 and third pairs hindwardly oblique. Legs thin, filiform ; first and 

 second pairs subequal, third pair longest ; tarsi long, cylindrical, 

 on all legs subequal, the last joint with two fine, short claws inserted 

 at the end. 



Abdomen in both sexes with six abdominal segments visible; Con- 

 nexwum not produced posteriorly ; Genital segments extending beyond the 

 sixth abdominal segment. 



* As in the foregoing section, for the sake of brevity, and for want of a 

 better term, we call this plate " pronoium" 



