B r a s i l ; and Fabricius, America generally. Donovan observed a slight difference between
the Chinese specimen and the figures in preceding works referred to by F a b r ic iu s; but
he nevertheless gave it as the Nepa Grandis o f Fabricius, on the authority o f the collection
o f the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. The Asiatic species are, however, now regarded
as specifically distinct from those o f America, and hence I have given this doubt-
ingly as the B. indica o f Saint Fargeau.
BELOSTOMA (SPH /ER O D EM A ) RU ST IC A.
P la te 19. fig. 1 .
C h . S p . B . ro tu n d a ta , e c au d a ta , fusc a , thora c is ely tro rum q u e margine antico albido. Long.
Corp. lin. 7^.
B. ro u n d , w ith o u t a ta il, b rown, with th e ma rgin o f th e e ly tra a n d th e fro n t o f th e
th o rax pa le . Len g th o f th e bod y 7 i lines.
S y n . N e p a ru s tic a , F a b r . E n t . S y s t. 4 . 62. 3 . (E x c lu s . syn. E n c . M e th . X. p . 2 7 3 . e t
L a p o r te R e v is . H e jn ip t. p . 18. Diplonychus ru sticu s.) Laporte. op. c it. p . 83.
N ep a p lan a , S u lz . H is t. h i s . t. 1 0 . / . 2 . S lo l l Cirn. 2 . f. 7 . / . 6 .
Insects in general discover an extraordinary degree o f care and ingenuity in depositing
their eg g s in the most secure situations, or places where the infant brood, when hatched,
may be provided witli proper sustenance. Those o f the aquatic kind u sually lay them
in recesses in the mud or sand, or under loose stones that lie at the bottom o f the w a te r ;
others, with as much care, and more ingenuity, hollow out the interior substance o f the
large stalks o f water plants, and deposit their eg g s in them ; or, rising out o f the water,
lay them in the extreme branches o f those plants, to secure them from other aquatic
depredators. Belostoma rustica displays even more sagacity, or attachment for its eggs,
than those c r ea tu res; for it never leaves them. Till they are hatched, it bears them on
its back, in a cluster o f an oval sh a p e ; these eg g s are o f an oblong form, and are fastened
by the narrowest end to a thin film, or plate o f cement, that causes them to adhere to tlie
polished surface o f the wing c a s e s ; when these eggs, about a hundred in number, are
hatched, it casts off the exuviee o f the cluster, and differs no longer in general appearance
from the male o f the same species.
Our figures represent the situation o f the eg g s on the back, and the insect also after
they are cast off. It is not commonly received with the eg g s upon it. Found on the
coast o f Coromandel, as well as China.