FLIES — POXD-SKA TER — WA TER-SCORPIOX 



369 



Pond-Skater. 



they were destroyed by a torrential downpour of rain, after having killed eleven 

 head of eattle in the .space of a few hours. The peasants regard the flesh of 

 animals killed by this insect as poisonous, and believe that these gnats — many of 

 which are eaten by fishes as larvae or snapped up as full-grown insects — come 

 from a cave in Columbatsch, in which St. George is said to have killed the 

 dragon. 



On the surface of stagnant pools the pond-skaters (Hydro- 

 metra) disport themselves side by side with the whirligig-beetles. In 

 these insects the body and lower parts of two pairs of legs are strikingly long and 

 thin, the front-legs (between which lies the proboscis, which is long and provided 

 with stinging bristles) being much shorter and out of proportion. These insects 

 look eccentric enough, 

 whether resting on the 

 water or running about, 

 with their sprawling 

 middle and hind legs 

 resting on the surface 

 of the water, which 

 almost appears as if 

 depressed by their 

 touch : while owing to 

 the tine, hairy, air- 

 retaining covering of 

 the legs, the insects do 

 not sink below the 

 surface. With a simul- 

 taneous motion, chiefly 

 made by the middle 

 pair of legs, they glide 

 swiftly along in jerks, preying on weaker insects, especially gnats which have 

 recently emerged from the pupa?, whose juices they suck with the proboscis, which 

 is also used for biting. In their way of living and appearance, the larvae of these 

 insects closely resemble the adults, since they have short backs and are devoid of 

 wings. The best known species are H. pallidum, which is about half an inch 

 long, and H. lacustris, which never measures more than three eighths of an inch. 



„ x Another family of the Rhvnchota, or bugs, is represented 



Water-Scorpion. ; J . , 



by the water-scorpion (Xi'jxi cinerea), which owes its name to the 



resemblance of the front-legs to a scorpion's claws. The body is comparatively 

 short and compressed, greyish brown in colour, with red markings and red veins in 

 the wings. The swimming powers of this insect are not great, the middle and hind 

 legs, which are used for the purpose in pairs, being only sparsely covered with 

 hairs. When at rest, the water-scorpion hangs head-downwards in a slanting- 

 position on some water-plant, to which it clings with the hind-legs, thus having its 

 breathing-tube elevated above the surface. Here it watches motionless for its 

 prey, which it seizes with its pincer-like front-legs. The eggs are deposited on decayed 

 floating reeds, in such a way that each is inserted in the plant, with only the strange 

 vol. 1. — 24 



POXD-SKATETi*. 



