in 
96 The Rev. Ww. Kırzr'on a new Order of Insects. 
arrange with them; while Myrmeleon and Hemerobius, though 
they differ from the general metamorphosis of the Neuroptera 
order, should nevertheless be arranged in it, since they agree with 
it in characters. 
U pon comparing together Professor Peck' s account and figures 
of the larva of Xenos Peckii (for so I call his insect) I at first 
imagined that it was of that order of larvae, which, having a 
membranaceous or rather fleshy head, can lengthen or shorten it 
at pleasure, like the larvae of many of the Muscide; for, if 
(Tax. VIII.) fig. 3. be compared with fig. 4, the head in the latter 
seems proportionally longer than in the former: but yet, as fig. 4. 
is more highly magnified than fig. 3, perhaps this appearance may 
be merely the result of that circumstance and of a lateral view. 
. Some doubt, however, must remain with respect to this point; 
and should my first suspicion be confirmed, it would show a consi- 
derable affinity between the larvee we are speaking of, and those 
of many of the Diptera whose metamorphosis is coarctate. Pro- 
fessor Peck further observes, which throws some additional 
weight into this scale, that the head of the larva, previous to its 
assumption of the pupa, takes a rounder form. There are, how- 
-ever, no traces in either figure, of the unguiform mandibles with 
which larve of this description are usually armed, nor any 
appearance of the anterior and posterior spiracles (the latter in 
two plates in two anal cavities) which commonly distinguish 
them: so that, did I know only the larva, I might perhaps be 
inclined to conjecture that the metamorphosis of these insects is 
incomplete ; for I can discover no conclusive characters in the 
larva itself, as far as I can get an idea of it from Professor Peck's 
figures and observations, to ascertain satisfactorily the kind ot its 
metamorphosis: but with respect to the pupa the case is diffe- 
rent ; for since I have examined Stylops Melitte in this state, I 
can 
