iSS AN INTRODUCTION TO EKTOMO! ^ 



very long, especially in A -nora are furnished with 



a groove into which the tibi.i- and tarsi fit like the blade of a pocket- 

 handle. 



lough the Nepiil.i- are truly aquatic in.-ect>. the second ami 

 third pair> of legs are fitted for walking rather than swimmir. 



Of the genus Nifa we have only a >in-K- species, .V. <//>/</ 

 This in about two-third* of an inch in length, not includ- 



ing the respiratory tube, which measure* a little more than < 

 fourth of an inch. It lives beneath stones and rubbish in ponds, 

 and in the quiet parts of our streams. 



Of the genus R t inatni % our most common species is A', fnscn 

 (Fig. 158). This insect lives in the same situations as Y/w. o\\ 

 to the linear form of its body, and to the dirt with which 

 usually covered, it is quite difficult to detect the presence of this 

 insect among the rubbish where it is found. Doubtless this re 

 blance to a dirty stick aids it greatly in the capture of insects, fi>h. 

 and other unwary animals upon which it preys. 



Family XIV. BELOSTOMATID/E.* 

 (Giant 1 1 'atcr-bugs.) 



" The family Belostomatida contains the largest Heteroptera now 

 in existence. These are all wide and flat-bodied aquatic insects, of 

 more or less ovate outline, furnished with powerful flattened swim- 

 ming-legs, the fore tibiae curved as in the preceding family, and fitted 

 for seizing and holding tightly the victims, upon which they pounce 

 from their hiding places in the rubbish or among the branch* 

 water-plants. A remarkable feature of all the genera is in the p 

 ence of a pair of flattened, narrow, strap-like appendages at the end of 

 the body, which are extensile, but not concerned with respiration 

 in members of the foregoing group". (Uhler.) 



Tin are rapacious creatures, feeding on other in- 



sects and small fish. Some of the species are of great size. One 

 found in Guiana and Brazil sometimes measures four inches in length. 

 We have in our fauna two common >pecies of the larger (iiant \Yater- 

 bugs. They are Relostotna amcricnnutu and llt-nticns ^riscus. Th 



so closely n -M inble each otlu -r that they arc commonly 

 confounded. 



*Belostomatide, BelAsloma : belos (fi\ot), a spear ; stoma (aro/ua), a motuh. 



