470 



NEUROPTERA 



owing to their keeping " greenfly " in check. The eggs are very 

 remarkable objects (Fig. 314), each one being supported at the 

 top of a stalk many times as long as itself ; in some species 

 (C. aspersa) the eggs are laid in groups, .those of each group 

 being supported on a common stalk. The larvae (Fig. 315) are 

 of a very voracious disposition, and destroy large quantities of 

 plant-lice by piercing them with sucking-spears, the bodies of 

 the victims being afterwards quickly exhausted of their contents 

 by the action of the apparatus connected with the spears. The 

 larvae of two or three species of Chrysopa cover themselves with 

 the skins of their victims after the manner of the larvae of 

 Hemerobius ; but most of the larvae of Chrysopa are unclothed, and 

 hunt their victims after the fashion of the larvae of Coccinellidae, to 

 which these Chrysopa larvae bear a considerable general resemblance. 

 These larvae have a remarkable structure at the extremity of their 



feet, but its use is quite un- 



/ A 1 



A 



known (Fig. 315, B, C). 

 Some larvae of the genus 

 make use of various sub- 

 stances as a means of dis- 

 guise or protection. Dewitz 

 noticed 1 that some specimens 

 he denuded of their clothing 

 and placed in a glass, seized 

 small pieces of paper with 

 their mandibles and, bend- 

 ing the head, placed the 

 morsels on their backs ; 

 here the pieces remained in 

 consequence of the exist- 

 ence of hooked hairs on 

 the skin. Green algae 

 or cryptogams are much 

 used for clothing, and 

 Dewitz supposes that the 

 Insect spins them together 

 with webs to facilitate their retention. According to Constant 

 and Lucas 2 the larvae of Chrysopa attack and kill the larvae 



1 Biol. CentralbL iv. 1885, p. 722. 

 2 Bull. Soc. ent. France (6), i. 1881, pp. xxi. and xxxi. 



FIG. 316. CJirysopa ( Hypochrysa] pallida, 

 larva. (After Brauer.) 



