Nov., 1908.] The Broken Hemelytra in certain Halohatinae. 3 8 9 
THE BROKEN HEMELYTRA IN CERTAIN HALOBATINAE. 
J. R. de la Torre Bueno. 
In his description of Telmatometra* Dr. Bergroth notes that 
the membrane of the hemelytra being broken off near its basal 
margin, a description of its veins was not possible. At first I 
attached no significance to this and assumed that the membrane, 
being delicate, had been lost in some way. However, a short time 
after the appearance of the paper cited, a possible explanation 
presented itself. To me, it clears up the question completely 
and exhibits a very remarkable habit in certain Halobatines. 
While out rowing on St. Mary’s Lake, in the vicinity of White 
Plains, N. Y., on July 4, I noted close to the shore in a little cove 
made by some rocks, quite a colony of Trepobates Rictus H. S., 
adults and nymphs. A scoop of the net yielded a goodly catch, 
among them one winged individual. In another similar cove, 
two more were secured from among a large number of the 
apterous form. These, being of opposite sexes, were preserved 
alive and set apart for breeding. On the 6 th I was obliged to 
kill them, owing to the remarkable antics of the male. At first, 
he was noticed fussing with his wings, passing his hind legs under 
them repeatedly. Very soon he had one hemelytron so bent 
that the end (the membrane) stood straight up from the body. 
He continued these passes, so I imagined, to straighten the wing, 
but finallv he succeeded in breaking off first the membrane of one 
hemelytron and then of the other, leaving the hemelytra in the 
condition Dr. Bergroth notes in Telmatometra. When the 
females began similar tactics, both were put in the cyanide 
bottle, because the winged form of Trepobates is so rare in these 
northern latitudes, that until I caught these three, I had taken 
only one other macropterous individual in eight years’ collecting. 
At the same time I also secured one 9 Rheumatobates 
rileyi, fully winged, the only one I have ever seen. This com¬ 
menced a like de-alating operation, and she, too, was promptly 
despatched. 
A week later I captured no less than seven Trepobates with 
wings similarly broken off, (but only partly so in one individual), 
three of them being males and the remaining four females. Four 
Rheumatobates were secured at the same time and place, three 
females and one male, with hemelytra and wings broken off as in 
Trepobates. At a later date one more truncate w inged Trepobates 
was found. All these occurred on a pond about a mile and a 
half from St. Mary's Lake, in which there had been neither 
Trepobates nor Rheumatobates earlier in the summer. 
*Ohio Nat., 1908, Vol. VIII : 375. 
