. A manual for the study of insects. Insects. HEMIPTERA, 135 est across the prothorax. These Broad-shouldered Water- striders constitute the family VeliidcE, They pass the greater part of their lives upon the surface of the water, often con- gregating in schools containing hundreds of individuals ; but they usually remain near the banks of the stream or pond, and sometimes they leave the water, mov- ing on the land with great freedom. Like the members of the allied families, they are predaceous. Figure 156 represents one of these insects somewhat enlarged. Fig. 156.—Rhagovelia collar is. Famil
. A manual for the study of insects. Insects. HEMIPTERA, 135 est across the prothorax. These Broad-shouldered Water- striders constitute the family VeliidcE, They pass the greater part of their lives upon the surface of the water, often con- gregating in schools containing hundreds of individuals ; but they usually remain near the banks of the stream or pond, and sometimes they leave the water, mov- ing on the land with great freedom. Like the members of the allied families, they are predaceous. Figure 156 represents one of these insects somewhat enlarged. Fig. 156.—Rhagovelia collar is. Family Hydrobatid^E (Hyd-ro-bat'i-dae). The Water-striders, On the quiet pools of a running strearn or the calm waters of a protected pond may be found swarms of slender long-legged insects that seem to find the water surface a pavement well suited for their airy feet. If your approach is stealthy you may see them resting motionless as if ab- sorbed in gazing at their own reflections in the mirror below them ; but disturb them, and so swiftly do they move that they seem but darting lines as they circle around and around each other in a mystic dance. If you watch them closely you may see one leap into the air after some approach- ing insect. These are the true Water-striders. In some of them the body is long and narrow, as shown in Figure 157; in others it is oval ; but in all it is widest back of the pro- thorax, thus differing from the form seen in the pre- ceding family. In the winter they stow Fig. ^,rotrechus con/ormis, thcmSClveS away Undcr thc banks or at the bottom of the water, and do not come to. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Comstock, John Henry, 1849-1931; Comstock, Anna Botsford, 1854-1930. joint author. Ithaca, N. Y. , Comstock Pub. Co.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectinsects, bookyear1895
