[23] 



COLLECTING AND PRESERVING INSECTS RILEY. 



Fig. 34. Caddis-fly, larva and its case. (From Packard.) 



the body parts soft and little specialized, and the muscles weak. Their 

 remains are found in the Devonian and Carboniferous deposits. 



"They are mostly carnivorous, and with the exception of the White- 

 ants and certain Book-lice they none of them affect man injuriously, 

 while some are quite beneficial." 



The first division of this order, or the Neuroptera proper, characterized 

 by having incomplete metamorphoses, may be considered under the 

 three following suborders: 



"Suborder TRICHOPTERA (0/ot'l, hair; -T* P 6v, wing), or Caddis-flies, 

 containing the single family Phryganeidre, and placed with theNeurop- 

 tera, though bearing great 

 affinities with the Lepidop- 

 tera. Every good disciple 

 of Walton and lover of the 

 "gentle art" knows the 

 value of the Caddis-fly, or 

 Water-moth, as bait. These 

 flies very much resemble 

 certain small moths, the 

 scales on the wings of the 

 latter being replaced in the 

 former with simple hairs. 

 The larva. 1 live in the water 

 and inhabit silken cases, which are usually cylindrical and covered 

 with various substances, according to the species, or the material most 

 conveniently obtained by the individual." 



Suborder MECOPTERA (/^>?, length; -re^, wing). This suborder 

 includes a peculiar group of insects, the most striking characteristics 



of which are the mouth-parts, which are pro- 

 longed into a rostrum or beak. The wings 

 are long and narrow, and ot nearly equal size. 

 The abdomen of the male is constricted near 

 its posterior end and terminates in long clasp- 

 ing organs from which these insects obtain the 

 common name of Scorpion-flies. 



The larva} of one genus (Panorpa) are re- 

 markable for their great resemblance to the 

 larva- of Lepidoptera. They have, however, eight pairs of abdominal 

 legs. The habits of these insects are not well known, but they are sup- 

 posed to be generally predaceous. 



Suborder NEUROPTERA. This group as restricted by modern au- 

 thors is a small one, including the largest species, as in the Hellgrain- 

 mite, the Lace-wing Flies, the Ant-lions, and the Mantispas represent- 

 ing the families, Sialida- and IIemerobiid;e, with their subfamilies. The 

 first includes the so-called Hellgrammite Fly (Cory<lttlns nintntux), one 



(;.:t."i. Panorpa or Scorpion-fly. 

 (From Packard.) 



