THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 253 



Unlike most other Odonata, the imagoes do not fly higher than a few 

 feet above the ground, preferring to alight on the marsh grass and bask 

 in the sunshine, where numerous small Diptera suitable for food hover 

 over the little stagnant pools. 



Professor J. G. Needham published in the Canadian Entomologist, 

 Vol. XXXI., p. 69, 1900, a list of those of our native Odonate genera of 

 which no nymphs were known, and spurred by his desire to obtain the 

 nymph of Nannothemis, inasmuch as the imago is to be found here in 

 abundance, I undertook in a systematic way the task of securing it for 

 him. The time of emergence for imagoes of this species is, according to 

 my records, June 6th to 25th ; the period of flight continues until the 

 end of T^ly- I began my search on the 18th of April. Using a dragnet, 

 I explored the shore and grass-fringed margin of the lake, near where the 

 imago is found, but without success. These places yielded lots of other 

 nymphs, but no Nannothemis. Then, collecting in those places in the 

 marsh where the water is from one to three feet in depth among the 

 rushes and sedges proved fruitless also. This convinced me that the 

 home of the coveted nymph must be the almost dry marsh-land, with here 

 and there a hole with a few inches of water in it. The holes were too 

 small to allow the use of a net : I had to dip the water out with my 

 hands. In them I was surprised to find a great number of Libellula 

 nymphs, among which were two that proved to be the nymphs desired. 



Not being able to find any more in these holes, I then searched 

 thoroughly the debris which had been deposited on the marsh during 

 high water, and which still lay in many places covered by a few inches of 

 water. Here I found I could Collect in an hour eighteen to twenty-five 

 of them. But it was very trying on the collector, for the nymph of JV. 

 bella is the most sluggish insect I know of; Stratiomyia and Odontomyia 

 larva;, which are abundant in the same places, are race -horses in 

 comparison. Removed from the water, the nymph clings closely to 

 grass or debris of exactly its own colour, and does not stir even after 

 letting this dry : so it is hard to see, and everything has to be picked 

 over very carefully. 



On June 22nd I found a number of females ovipositing, in the 

 shallow places where I had found the nymphs, in temporary water one to 

 two inches in depth and very warm. The female dips her abdomen to 

 the surface, after the manner of all Libellulines, but only about three or 

 four times, then rests on the grass a few minutes and then repeats. 



