CHAPTER IX. 

 FIELD WORK ON HEMIPTERA. 



Of the true bugs, ten families are aquatic ; hence the 

 same pond that furnishes material for the study of beetles, 

 may furnish many sorts of these insects with sucking 

 beaks. 



To learn what this beak looks like, catch a squash bug 

 or a cicada, and while you hold between thumb and fore- 

 finger either one you may have caught, look on the under 

 side of the head, perhaps turning the insect so that you 

 can see the head sidewise. Folded back against the thorax, 

 between the front legs, will be found the sharp-pointed 

 beak. When in use, it is held at a right angle with the 

 body. Some of the predaceous members of the order hold 

 the beak "in action" straight in front of the head. 



On the surface of the pond, or in quiet pools of the 

 river, one may see long-legged insects darting across the 

 water, preferring to escape from danger by more rapid 

 skating than by diving. These are the water striders; 

 and if you expect to catch them with your dip net, you will 

 have to make some shrewd guesses as to where the insect 

 is likely to be after your net strikes the water. Watch 

 them first to see if you can discover what they are doing 

 as they stride about over the water. Their front legs are 

 strong and could well do for hands if the insects needed 

 organs for grasping. 



In company with the water striders, but stirring up 

 considerably more commotion in the water, like some tiny 



98 



