DRAGON. FLIES. 



L. unguiculata places the eggs in aerial parts of plants 

 which are growing in pools that usually dry up in mid- 

 summer; the young, instead of hatching as soon as they 

 are developed, stay inside the eggshell until the plants 

 die, toward the end of the season, and drop into the now 

 well-filled pool; development then goes on so rapidly that 

 the adult stage is reached before the pool dries up the 

 next summer. Probably, however, some of the species 

 lay their eggs under water. 



The figure in Plate X is that of a male 

 Calopteryx . 



macuiata Black- wing; the female has a white spot 



near the outer end of the front margin of 

 the front wing and her wings are not so dark. Adults of 

 this genus (probably Agrion is a better name) usually keep 

 close to ditches or small streams in rocky woods. The 

 female macuiata, unattended by the male, lays her eggs 

 in the submerged stems of aquatic plants. The young of 

 this species have a light band on each leg and g ill-plate. 



ANISOPTERA 



Adults of this suborder, the Dragon-flies, when at rest, 

 hold their wings flat and extended at right angles to the 

 body. (See Anax, Plate IX.) The young do not have 

 prominent external gill-plates but the lower intestine is 

 thin-walled and they breathe by absorbing air from the 

 water, which they draw in and expel through the anus. 

 The young are stout-bodied in comparison with those of 

 Damsel-flies, and, while the latter swim by sculling, using 

 their gills as oars, the young Dragons shoot themselves 

 forward by forcibly expelling the water from the rectum. 

 This may be seen by placing one of them in a saucer with 

 just enough water to cover the hind end of its body. The 

 adults are, perhaps, the strongest fliers of all insects. 

 There are two families, each with subfamilies not all of 

 which are mentioned here. 



The adults of the subfamily Gomphinae are usually 

 clear winged and have bodies striped black and green or 



45 



