NEUROPTERA. 



spots or bands, and have feathered antennae. The larvae 

 are aquatic, but do not favor swift streams. Pupation 

 takes place out of the water, in rotten logs or in the earth. 

 Now we come to the creature laymen ask about. 



I can not give all the nicknames and 

 -orydahs have no preference; some of those I have 



heard are Dobson-fly, for the adult, and, 

 for the larvae, Hellgrammite, Dobson, Crawler, Hell-devil, 

 Hell-diver, Conniption-bug, and Arnly. Others have 

 been published, but when I read this short list to my ten- 

 year-old she said "It must be an awful-looking thing." 

 Whatever its appearance (Plate XIII), the larvae make 

 irresistible bait for bass and many of us have turned over 

 stones in swift streams looking for them with that end in 

 view. In the May or June that the larvae are full-grown, 

 a matter of probably three years, they crawl out on the 

 bank and pupate under stones, the adults emerging several 

 weeks later. Now, the male is not as terrible as he 

 looks. Those long jaws are to embrace the female when 

 mating. The female's jaws are short, stubby and much 

 more likely to pinch. Two to three thousand eggs are 

 laid in a whitish, rounded mass on a leaf, or some other 

 object, which overhangs a stream. 



NEUROPTERA 



As previously mentioned, the Sialididae and Corydalidae 

 are considered by many authorities to be Neuroptera. 

 Neuroptera, in a limited sense, are not only terrestrial but, 

 in some cases, inhabitants of the dryest deserts. Meta- 

 morphosis is complete. There are eight or ten interesting 

 families but members of only two of them are commonly 

 noticed by laymen. 



The following is a key to certain of the Neuroptera. 



1. Antennae enlarged toward the tip; club-shaped, or 

 with a terminal knob MYRMELEONID^E. 



Antennas without terminal enlargement 2 . 



2. Front legs fitted for seizing prey, stouter than the 

 other legs; attached to the front end of an extremely long 

 prothorax. Some, at least, of the larvae live parasitically 



53 



