NEIROPTERA. 



577 



THE SECOND FAMILY OF THE NEUROPTERA,— 

 The PLAMii.NNiis, — 

 Which composes, with the following:, the greater portion of the order Si/nistata of Fabricius, com- 

 prises those Neuroptera which have the antennae always composed of a great Dumber of joints, and 

 longer than the head; the mandibles are distinct, and the lower wings nearly equal to the upper, 

 extended, or simply folded under at the inner edge. 



They have generally the wings very much reticulated and naked, with the maxillary palpi ordinarily 

 filiform, or rather thickened at the tips, shorter than the head, and composed of four or five joints. 



I shall divide this family into five sections, composing, on account of their habits, so many small 

 distinct suh-families. 



1. The Panorpate of Latreille, which have five joints in all the tarsi, and the anterior extremity 

 of the head prolonged, and narrowed in the form of a beak or rostrum. They constitute the genus 



Panorpa, Linnaeus, — 

 And have the antennae setaceous, and inserted between the eyes; the clypeUB prolonged into a 

 corneous conical plate, grooved beneath to receive the mouth ; the mandibles, maxilla:, and lower lip 

 nearly linear; four or six short filiform palpi; those of the maxillae appealing to me to consist of only 

 four joints. The body is long, the head vertical, the first segment of the thorax very small and collar- 

 like. The two sexes differ greatly in many species. Their transformations have not been observed. 



Nemoptera, Latr., Oliv., has the hind-wings exceedingly long and linear, and the ocelli are wanting. These 

 Bingnlar insects have hitherto been onlj observed in the hottest parts of Europe, Africa, ami the adjacent parts of 



Asia. [See the recenl n ograph of Kin- in the Berlin Transaction*.] 



Bittacui, Latr., has the four wings of equal Bize, as well as ocelli; the abdomen is alike in both sexes, and the 



long and terminated by a single tarsal unguis. [Exotic species.] 

 Pom rpa, Latr., has wings ami ocelli like those of Bittacus, but the abdomen of the male is terminated by a 

 long, jointed, recurved tail, with a claw at the tip ; and that of the female is long, and pointed at the tip. The leg! 

 are of moderate length, and the tarsi have two ungues. 



Panorpa communis, Linn., is a very abundant species, found in hedges and woods. 

 [Several other British species,] 



Boreut, Latr., differs from the preceding in the large size of the prothorax ; the 

 Wings of the males are short, curved, and awl-shaped, and the females are wingless. 

 The only species, li. hirmalU, Linn., is found in winter under moss in the north of 

 Europe, and OU the Alps. [It is small, and has occurred, but rarely, in this country.] 



2. The Myrmekonideg, having also five joints in the tarsi, but in which 

 the head is not prolonged in the form of a beak or muzzle, and the antennae 

 are thickened at the tips. The head is transverse and vertical, having only 

 compound eyes, which are rutmd and prominent ; six palpi, those of the 

 labium being longer than the others, and thickened at the tips ; the first segment of the thorax is 

 small; the wings of equal si/e, Ion-, and roof-like; the abdomen mostly long and cylindrie, with two 

 filiform appendages at its extremity, in the males; the legs arc short. They inhabit hot situations in 

 the southern climates of both hi mispheres, clinging to plants, where they remain stationary during the 

 day. Tin , fly swiftly. Their pupae are inactive. These insects compose the genus 



M\ km p ii ok, Linn., — 

 Which Fabricius has divided into two. 



Mt/rmileun proper, has the antcinu gradually thick- 

 ened, CUIVed at the tips, and much shorter than the 

 bodj , and tin- abdomen is Ion- and linear. 



The destruction which the larva of the common Eu- 

 ropean species makes u >.-t Ants, has gained (<>r it 



I the \nt Lion. Its abdomen is verj large, 

 oportioned to the resi of its body; its head Is very 



,/ small, and annul with two long horn-like mand 



toothed on the inside and pointed at the tip, »in< h s, , Vl . 

 it both for pinchers and suckers. Although ruraubea 

 with si\ legs u walks but slowly, almost always oaca- 

 wards: not being aide, therefore, to follow lUprey, u 

 resorts to stratagem, and nuns in the sand aconicsu 



P i' 



Fijf. 107. — Pnnorpa communis. 



