Life-histories of Indian insects. II. Some aquatic Rhynchota and Coleoptera / by D. Nowrojee.

  • Nowrojee, D.
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Life-histories of Indian insects. II. Some aquatic Rhynchota and Coleoptera / by D. Nowrojee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    LIFE-HISTORIES OF INDIAN INSECTS—II. SOME AQUATIC RHYNCHOTA AND COLEOPTERA. BY U. NOWROJEE, B.A., Assistant to the Imperial Entomologist. Ranatra filiformis, Fab. The genus Ranatra belongs to the family lSe])idcB, character- ised by the long apical filiform appendages. Two species of Ranatra are found in Pusa, R. filiformis, F., and R. elongata, F. The former, which is much the shorter, about half the size of the latter, is also the commoner one found throughout the year. The Egg:—The eggs of R. fUiformis, F., are whitish, smooth, elongate, cylindrical with rounded ends, and slightly curved at the anterior end. They are about 2\ mm. long and f mm. broad. From the anterior end a little below the apex is given off a pair of long thread-like filaments about 4 mm. long. The eggs are laid in oblique slits made in the stems of aquatic weeds (Plate XX, Fig. 1) ; in some cases the whole of the egg lies buried in the tissue of the stem, only the filaments projecting out; in others only a portion of the egg is embedded in the tissue, the remainder with the filaments lying free out of the slit. The eggs are laid irregularly • along the stem which lies submerged under water. Eggs found on the 13th March hatched on the 17th and the 19th. The nymph escapes through a small crescent-shaped opening which it makes at the upper end of the egg just below the base of the filaments. Nymph:—The nymph, when just hatched, is dark brown coloured, the body elongate and narrow, about 5| mm. long and 1