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N O T D O N T 1 D M N O T R E M A. 



pterous insects belonging to the family Cat-abides and 

 subfamily Etaphrides, having the body depressed and 

 elongate, the eyes large, the forehead channelled, 

 and the elytra with a smooth and polished longitudi- 

 nal space along each. These are very active little 

 insects, found in gardens under stones, in sand, and 

 gravel pots. They are generally of a shining copper 

 or brassy colour. Entomologists are much at variance 

 respecting the numbers of species which we possess 

 in this genus. Stephens, in his Illustrations, gave 

 two, suggesting the probability that we had more 

 than that number. Mr. Waterhouse subsequently 

 published a monograph in the Entomological Maga- 

 zine, in which he described eighteen, which number 

 Mr. Stephens has still more recently reduced to six, 

 in the second edition of his Nomenclature. The 

 type is the Cicindcla aquatica of Linnaws, which is 

 nearly a quarter of an inch in length. 



NOTODONTIM (Stephens). A family, or 

 perhaps rather a subfamily, of lepidopterous insects, 

 separated from the Linnaean division BOMBYX (which 

 see), characterised by the possession of a very short 

 distinct but not spiral tongue, the antennae bipecti- 

 nated, especially in the males, the body more or less 

 robust, and terminated by a tuft in the males. The 

 larvae generally fleshy and naked, or slightly hairy, 

 with one or more tubercles, mostly with sixteen legs, 

 the anal pair of which are in some species (the puss 

 and kitten moths, Centra) converted into a porrected 

 caudal appendage ; the pupa enclosed in a cocoon, 

 and often buried in the earth. This family is per- 

 haps too nearly allied to the Arctiidce, with which it 

 is indeed united by Latreille, composing his third 

 section of Nocturna, named Pseudo bombyccx. It 

 comprises, according to Stephens, fourteen genera, 

 including Pygoera (P. buccphala, the buff-tip moth), 

 Centra, Stauropus (S. Fagi, the lobster-moth), Endro- 

 mis (E. versicolor, the glory of Kent moth), and 

 Nutodonta of Ochsenheimer, so named from the tooth 

 or elevated scale upon the posterior edge of the an- 

 terior wings, and which, when the wings are closed, 

 meet and form a crest on the back ; hence the En- 

 glish name of the prominent moths given to these 

 insects. Mr. Stephens has restricted this genus to 

 the N. dromedarius (small crow prominent), pcrfuscus 

 (dark prominent), and ziczac (pebble prominent). The 

 swallow prominent (dictcea and dictceoides) form the 

 genus Lecocampa, Stephens ; the coxcomb and maple 

 prominents the genus Lophopteryx, Stephens ; and 

 the pale prominent (patoind) the genus Pterostoma, 

 Germar (Ptilodontis, Stephens ; Orthorhinia, Boisduval ; 

 Odorif>tera, Latreille). They are all handsome moths, 

 and many of them of considerable variety. 



NOTONECTlDjE (Leach). A family of aquatic 

 hemipterous insects, belonging to the section Hydro- 

 corua, Latreille, differing from the Nepidce in the fore 

 legs not being raptorial, but simple, directed down- 

 wards, with the thighs of the ordinary size and the tarsi 

 similar to those of the hind feet, and very much 

 ciliated or clothed with lateral hairs ; the body is thick 

 and of an oval or sub-cylindrical form, and much less 

 depressed than in the Nepida ; the hind legs are 

 admirably adapted, both in their structure and mode 

 of insertion, for swimming, being fringed with strong- 

 hairs and terminated with two very minute tongues. 

 With the assistance of these legs, they swim with 

 great rapidity. The name of the family is derived 

 from the peculiar habit which these insects have of 

 swimming with the back downwards. On approach- 



ing a piece of standing water, these insects may be 

 seen resting with the tail upwards touching the sur- 

 face, and the legs extending at nearly right angles 

 from the body. In this position they are enabled to 

 obtain a supply of air to the apertures of the air tubes 

 along the sides of the body in the same manner as 

 the Dyticidae. No sooner, however, do they gain 

 information of our approach (and how this is effected 

 so quickly by insects whose heads are half an inch 

 under water with the tail uppermost it is difficult to 

 conceive) than they strike downwards, and are out 

 of sight in an instant. They reside in the water in 

 all their states, but the imago sometimes quits its 

 native element and takes flight. The larva differs 

 only from the imago in wanting wings and hemelytra. 

 They are predaceous, feeding upon other insects which 

 they seize with their short fore legs, and convey it to 

 the proboscis. They are very bold, and will attack 

 insects larger than themselves, and even their own 

 species ; they also destroy considerable numbers of 

 the larvae of the Ephemera: which are themselves 

 predaceous. They are enabled to produce a smart 

 wound with their proboscis. The female deposits a 

 considerable number of white elongated eggs, which 

 it attaches to the stalks of aquatic plants. In the 

 commencement of the following spring, these eggs 

 hatch and produce minute active and voracious larvae 

 which afterwards become pupae, differing from the 

 former state in having rudiments of the organs of 

 flight. The family is but of small extent and corre- 

 sponds with the Linnaean genus Notonecta ; it now 

 comprises the genera Notonecta, Ploa, Sigara, and 

 Corixia. The genus Notonecta is distinguished by its 

 sub-cylindrical form, the scutellum large and distinct, 

 with the first joint of the anterior tarsi long, and the 

 claws of the hind legs minute. There are three 

 British species, the type being the N. glauca of Lin- 

 naeus, about half an inch long, of a greyish colour, 

 with the margins of the elytra spotted with small 

 black dots, and the back of the abdomen black. Dr. 

 Leach has published a good monograph upon this 

 family, in the twelfth volume of the Linmcau Trans- 

 actions. 



NOTOXID^ (Stephens; ANTHICIDES, Latreille). 

 A family of small coleopterous insects, belonging to 

 the section Hcteromera, and subsection Tracfielides, 

 Latreille, having the antennae simple and slightly 

 thickened towards the tips, the joints being of a re- 

 versed conical form, the maxillary palpi terminated 

 by a large hatchet-shaped joint, the penultimate joint 

 of the tarsi bilobed, the body narrowed in front, the 

 neck generally distinct, the thorax narrowed behind 

 or knotted. The species are of minute size, in gene- 

 ral very active, often found in the neighbourhood of 

 dung-heaps, or in sandy situations, others are found 

 upon different plants. Latreille places in this family 

 the genera Seraptia, Steropes, Notoxus, and Anthicus, 

 the typical genus being distinguished at once by a 

 large horn produced from the front of the thorax and 

 extending over the head. The type is the Notoxus 

 monoceros (Linnaeus, G. meloe), a small and not very 

 common species, which is prettily varied with brown 

 and red, and found upon sand banks. The genus 

 Anthicus comprises numerous small species, having 

 the thorax unarmed. 



NOTREMA. A genus of molluscs established by 

 Rafinesque, neither the animal nor the shell is accu- 

 rately known, and the only idea we can form of it is 

 the Hipponix placed upon a distinct basis, with its 



