IXSECTA. 131 



on all berries, to which it imparts its own unpleasant 

 odor. 



The Wafer Buys (hydrometra lacustris) are slender 

 insects, with long legs ; bodies scarcely half an inch 

 long ; frequently seen skimming on the surface of the 

 water during the summer. The color is black, but cov- 

 ered with a silver luster; they have no wings. They 

 feed on gnats and other insects, and pass the winter in 

 the mud under the water. When crushed they emit the 

 same disgusting odor as the bed bug. 



The Swimmer (notonecta glauca). The body is cylin- 

 drical, and measures nearly an inch ; yellow-gray ; the 

 upper wings are spotted on the borders with brown ; the 

 corselet is black ; the hind feet are long and hairy. These 

 insects may be seen in summer time, mostly in standing 

 water, where they swim or row with great quickness, and 

 often on their backs, whence their generic name. They 

 fly up out of the water, and then fall back again with a 

 sudden plunge, as if a stone had been thrown into the 

 pond. As they sink beneath the surface, silver-glancing 

 air bubbles may be observed adhering to the hairs on the 

 posterior portion of the body ; if placed upon a dry spot, 

 they make (as crawling on a level is painful) all possible 

 efforts to reach some elevated body, in order to spread 

 their wings and find the way to the water. They have 

 a sharp proboscis with which they can prick sharply, and 

 make use of it to kill the water insects and larvae of frogs, 

 the blood of which serves them for nourishment. 



The Scorpion Buy (nepa cinerea) is flat and oval ; 

 the head small, with protruding eyes, the abdomen light 

 red, black in front ; brown on the posterior portion of 

 the body; head, breast, feet, and fore wings ash gray. 

 The fore feet are large, heavy, and forked ; placed far 



