AQUATIC INSECTS IN NEW YORK STATE 225 
the base of each lateral lobe. Movable hook strong, arcuate. 
Distal end of lateral lobe divided. 
Legs long, slender, smooth; no lateral carinae or spines on 
the abdomen; wings reaching the middle of the fourth segment; 
gills thick, with smooth and not very sharp carinae. 
In half grown specimens femora, tibiae and gills are often 
distinctly triple banded with brown, and the median cleft of the 
labium extends hardly below the level of the bases of the lat- 
eral lobes. 
The females descend on stems of more or less completely sub- 
merged aquatic plants (such as Elodea), and, unattended by the 
males, insert their eggs thickly into the green stems, just below 
the surface of the water. 
HETAERINA 
_ This genus includes some of the most beautiful of insects. It 
is abundantly represented in the tropical parts of America; but 
for our State a single species is recorded. Another species 
which occurs in Pennsylvania may yet be discovered within our 
borders. 
_ The common northern species, H. americana [pl.12], fre- 
quents slow flowing streams. The imagos are on the wing in late 
Summer and early autumn, flitting about the borders of riffles. 
The males are very showy, and are easily distinguished from all 
our other dragon flies by the presence of a bright crimson streak 
on the base of each wing. Though their flight seems rather 
fluttering and uncertain, they are not very easy to capture when 
at the hight of their activity: they dodge auickly, and fly across 
Stream frequently. Once, while collecting with a net of red 
mosquito bar, after trying vainly for half an hour to capture a 
Specimen where specimens were not scarce, I stopped in dis- 
couragement with the net under my arm, the bag behind me, 
and rested. A moment later, looking back over my shoulder, 
I saw a fine male Hetaerina sitting on the edge of my net. Care- 
fully disengaging the handle from my arm, I managed to sweep 
him into the bag. Then I turned my attention to the others 
that were fluttering about the stream, and found I could easily 
“accomplish by strategy what I had failed to do by force. There 
vere few good alighting places about the stream, and I found 
