48 DRAGON FLIES VS. MOSQUITOES. 



"When you have brought yourself to perform the dis- 

 agreeable task of hauling out of a dirty pond a mass of 

 slimy weeds and fetid mud, and have deposited it on the 

 bank, you see the mass here and there heaving with the 

 struo-o-les of these uo-lv brutes as thev work their way into 

 davlio-ht and drag their grimv bodies out of the tenacious 

 and unsavory mess. What a contrast between this sordid 

 life and the gay and brilliant existence of the shiny winged 

 adult." 



How these creatures breathe is almost a mystery. Ha- 

 gen"*^ has described the wonderful apparatus which enables 

 them to respire under any circumstances. Cabot ^^ and 

 Packard "^ also give details of the same, which are so full 

 it is only necessary to refer the reader to those authors. 



The duration of the stages from the egg to the imago 

 has not been determined. 



Enough is known, however, to lead us to believe that 

 very few species, if any, are two brooded. Most of the 

 species are known to live in the imago state a long while, 

 and oviposition is carried on for a number of days by the 

 same individual. Larvae of the same brood develop un- 

 equally, some far outstripping their fellows in rapid 

 growth and utilizing their tardy companions as the prin- 

 cipal articles in their bill of fare. From nine to ten 

 months is required to perfect the dragon fly, whose winged 

 existence is enjoyed but for a few weeks at most. 



When the time for the imago to emerge arrives, the 

 pupa climbs out of the water on some stalk or dry place; 

 the back yawns and the perfect insect, a knight in mail, a 

 very prince of the insect realm, emerges, ready to " tilt 

 against the field." 



Now our Odonats have reached the period in their 



