The Giant Water Bugs 



the water, when it darts with sudden rapidity upon its unpre- 

 pared victim, grasps the creature with its strong, clasping fore 

 legs, plunges its deadly beak deep into the flesh, and proceeds 

 with the utmost coolness to leisurely suck its blood. A copious 

 supply of saliva is poured into the wound, and no doubt aids in 

 producing the paralysis which so speedily follows its puncture in 

 small creatures." 



The genus Zaitha contains similar water bugs of smaller size 

 which have frequently been mentioned and figured from the 

 curious habit of carrying the eggs plastered in a group on the 

 back of the adult insect. For a long time it was supposed that 

 the female sticks her eggs to her own back and the case was sup- 

 posed to parallel, in a way, that of the famous Surinam toad. A 

 German observer, Schmidt, however, found that many males car- 

 ried eggs, but the method and purpose of attachment remained a 

 mystery until it was cleared up by aquarium observations made 

 by an American, Miss Slater, who found that the female, vis et 

 armis, customarily lays them on the back of the unwilling male. 

 Sometimes she has to struggle for hours to accomplish her fell 

 purpose, but she does accomplish it in the end and her spouse is 

 converted into an animated baby carriage. Says Miss Slater: 

 "That the male chafes under the burden is unmistakable; in fact 

 my suspicions as to the sex of the egg-carrier were first aroused 

 by watching one in an aquarium which was trying to free itself 

 from its load of eggs, an exhibition of a lack of maternal interest 

 not to be expected in a female carrying her own eggs. Generally 

 the Zaithas are very active, darting about with great rapidity; but 

 an egg bearer remains quietly clinging to a leaf with the end of 

 the abdomen just out of the water. If attacked, he meekly re- 

 ceived the blows, seemingly preferring death, which in several 

 cases was the result, to the indignity of carrying and caring for 

 the eggs." 



The full life history of none of these giant water bugs has 

 been properly described in this country. The young Belostomas 

 are said to have two tarsal claws instead of one as when adult, 

 but their growth has not been followed. About fifty species of 

 the family are known, of which about one-half inhabit the 

 United States. 



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