No. 34-] HEMIPTERA OF CONNECTICUT: NEPIDAE. 



401 



Key to Species. 



1. Anterior femora unidentate 2 



Anterior femora with a second tooth-like prominence near the joint 

 of the tibiae americana 



2. Anterior femora narrow, elongate ; legs thin, elongate protensa 



Anterior femora wide, short ; legs stout, short kirkaldyi 



R. americana Montandon (quadridentata Uhler. Heidemann, 

 Bueno et Auctt. Am., nee Stal). (Fig. 42.) 

 Bull. Soc. Sci. Buc, xix, 65, 1910. 



False 



Spiracles 



Fig. 42. Ranatra americana Montandon, — (a) ventral view of body, (b) 

 dorsal view, natural size. Drawing by Dr. Philip Garman. 



This is the largest and most common Eastern representative of 

 the genus. It is found in all collections and may be taken in any 

 suitable pond. It hibernates as an adult, buried in the mud of the 

 pond-bottom, or hiding under some overhanging bank or perhaps 

 frozen in the ice. In the spring, sometimes as early as March, 

 it deposits its eggs, sinking them into the soft tissue of decaying 

 stems of rushes or in some water-soaked and softened piece of 

 wood, with the two filaments sticking out. When they are thick, 

 the outstanding filaments look like a white fuzz on the surface. 

 Ordinarily, however, they are laid in a straight line. They hatch 



