342 .\ATURE-STUDY REVIEW [12:8— Nov., 1916 



specimen of one of these useful forms, and here is a reproduction 

 of a photograph I made of it at the time. This I secured by placing 

 a long pasteboard box over it until it was perfectly quiet and in a 

 normal posture, when I photographed it by arranging my camera 

 directly over it, cautiously removing the aforesaid box. My best 

 photographic pictures of many insects and other creatures are 

 obtained in this way. In this case the insect is natural size, 

 and it gives a beautiful and lifelike representation of the species, 

 which bears the scientific name of Scutigera forceps. We often 

 see one running nimbly up the wall, or scurrying across the floor. 

 In only too many instances some one crushes the little fellow 

 under foot, wisely (?) remarking that "the bite of one of those 

 centipedes or earwigs is certain death to the person so bitten." 

 There is absolutely no truth in such a statement; upon the other 

 hand, the Scutigera is a most useful species to have about, as its 

 carnivorous tastes lead it to continually prey upon house-flies, 

 cockroaches, and other pests of the home. We all know what a 

 menace to health the common house-fly is, while cockroaches are 

 by no means desirable additions to any household. 



One of the most interesting groups of insects to study is the 

 dragon-flies, especially, as I have said above, as there is so much 

 yet to be learned about them, of which science has no record. 

 Not a summer goes by but what I capture and study some of these 

 truly elegant insects. In eastern North America some of our 

 biggest forms belong in the family ^Eschnidae, and in this assemb- 

 lage one of the very largest and most powerful species is the one 

 called Anax Junius. A fine example of this ferocious fellow was 

 caught by me not long ago, and photographed, natural size, on a 

 beautiful head of wool-grass ; it is here reproduced in a figure. Note 

 how the eyes meet on top of the head. This big dragon-fly is the 

 first species to appear here in the spring in the District of Columbia, 

 and the last to disappear as winter comes on. They may be seen 

 darting about over almost any pond or marsh in search of the 

 various flies and other insects upon which they prey; and every 

 once in a while we catch a glimpse of their beautiful blue and green 

 bodies, as they swiftly turn in the right light. 



Another fine species of dragon-fly is shown in Fig. 3 ; it is known 

 as Libellula pulchella, and appears in numbers early in the summer. 

 It is a brown form, and may be readily captured with an ordinary 

 insect-net. Then we have the fellow with the chalk-white body 



