CHAPTER VIII 

 ORDER NEUROPTERA* 



The Horned Corydalus, the Lacewing-flies, the Ant-lions and others 



The members of this order have four wings; these are membranous and 

 are usually furnished with many veins and cross-veins. In most members 

 of the order, the wings have been specialized by the addition in the preanal 

 area of many supernumerary veins of the accessory type. The mouth-parts 

 are formed for chewing. The tarsi are five-jointed. The cerci are absent. 

 The metamorphosis is complete. 



The order Neuroptera as now restricted differs greatly in extent from 

 the Neuroptera of the early entomologists. Formerly there were included 

 in this order many insects that are no longer believed to be closely re- 

 lated. 



The wings of the Neuroptera are membranous 

 and are usually furnished with many wing-veins. 

 The two pairs of wings are similar in texture and 

 usually in outline; in some the fore wings are 

 slightly larger than the hind wings, in others the 

 two pairs of wings are of the same size. The anal 

 area is small in both fore and hind wings; it is 

 rarely folded (Sialidae), and then only slightly so. 

 The mouth-parts are formed for chewing. In 

 several families the larva? suck the blood of their 

 prey by means of their peculiarly modified man- 

 dibles and maxilla?. The mouth-parts of the larva 

 of an ant-lion will serve to illustrate this type of 

 mouth-parts (Fig. 109). 



In this insect the mandibles {md) are very 

 long, curved at the distal end, fitted for grasping 

 and piercing the body of the prey, and armed with 

 strong spines and setae. On the ventral aspect of 

 each mandible there is a furrow extending the 

 entire length of the mandible ; and over this fur- 

 row the long and slender maxilla (mx) fits. On 

 the dorsal aspect of the maxilla there is also a 

 furrow. These two furrows form a tube which 

 extends from the tip of the combined mandible 

 and maxilla to the base of this organ where it 

 communicates with the mouth cavity. Through this tube the blood of the 

 prey is conveyed to the mouth. 



The metamorphosis is complete. The larvae that are known are pre- 

 dacious or parasitic; a few of them are aquatic, Sialidae, Sisyridae, and 

 * NeurOptera: neuron (vtvpov), a nerve; pteron (Trrtpov), a wing. 



66 



ioq. — Ventral side 

 mouth-parts of an ant-lion: md, 

 mandible; mx, maxilla. Much en- 

 larged. 



