l8o ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS [Apr., ' IJ 



swimming slowly or even poising in mid-water some distance 

 beneath the surface. They abound in waters teeming with 

 Entomostraca, upon which they largely feed, the crib formed 

 by the closure of the anterior two spiny pairs of legs being 

 nicely adapted to the retention of such prey. Their dexterity 

 in the manipulation of this device and its efficiency in retain- 

 ing small beings may be demonstrated quite readily under the 

 binocular, and affords another of nature's illustrations of the 

 fitness of form to function. 



Like others of the predatory class of water bugs they do on 

 occasion fall upon corixids and other forms than the en- 

 tomostraca, but not with the regularity of many of the others. 



Adults appear from early spring to late fall. The eggs may 

 be found in IMay, the nymphs begin to emerge by the middle 

 of the month and by the 15th of June form a dominant spe- 

 cies to be noted in all stages of development from egg to adult 

 in waters suitable to their needs. 



They are wilder and more difficult creatures to rear than the 

 Notonectae, but no less interesting objects of study. So far 

 as the writer is aware there has been nothing noted hitherto 

 concerning their biolog}' and he is glad to record for them 

 something of the economy of their lives. 



Annotated Bibliography. 

 Bade, E. 1909. Das Susswasser Aquarium 3rd ed. 896 pages. Ber- 

 lin. (On page 657. "Das Weibchen legt die kleinen hellgelben, ovalen 

 Eier an Blatter ab. aus denen nach 14 Tagen die Jungen ausschlupfen 



"). 



Brocher. F. 1913. L' Aquarium de Chambre. Introduction a 1' 

 etude de I'histoire Naturelle — deuxieme ed. — Paris, p. 271. (Les No- 

 tonectes fichent leurs oeufs. aux trois quarts enfonces, dans les tis- 

 sues des roseaux; ou bien, elles les collent seulement contre un vegetal 

 ou un corps immerge quelconque.) 



Brocher, F. 191 i. Recherches sur la Respiration des insectes 

 aquatiques adultes — la Notonecte. Ann. Biol, lacustre. 4, pp. 9-32. 



BuENO, J. R. DE la Torre, 1902. Notonccta undulata, its oviposition 

 in: Jr. N. Y. Ent. Soc. X: p. 250. (In proceedings of society for June 



3.) 



Id. 1902. Notonectidae of N. Y. in : Jr. N. Y. Ent. Soc. X, p. 236. 

 (Under Aiiisops platyciicniis Fieb. is a description now applied to 

 Buenoa margantacea Bueno.) 



