470 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Yol. ix 



THE HORNED CORYDALIS. 



By the Rev. T. W. Fyles. 



Corydalls cornutus is the mouarcli of the water-flies. I can- 

 well recall the admiration with which I first looked upon the 

 weird beauty of this remarkable insect. The undulating body? 

 dark and glabrous ; the plated thorax ; the square head, and 

 powerful mandibulae ; the projecting eyes, black and bead-like ;. 

 the long setaceous antennae ; the wonderful wings, clouded, yet 

 transparent, flecked with white, nerved and barred, and measur- 

 ing five inches from tip to tip, — presented, tout ensemble, an. 

 appearance both grim and fascinating. Beholding it, one could 

 not but desire to know more of the creature's history. 



In June and July of last year, this desire, as regards myself,, 

 was in a measure gratified. I had the pleasure of watching the 

 insect through its changes, from its larval to its perfect condi- 

 tion. The circumstances were these : 



On the 12th of June, a friend brought me a strange creature, 

 which he had captured as it was crawling up the bank of the 

 Yamaska River. It was four inches long, and about half an 

 inch broad. Its color was dark-sepia. It had twelve segments 

 besides the head. The first three of these were evidently tho- 

 racic, for the legs were attached to them, a pair to a segment. 

 Each of the nine abdominal segments carried two remarkable ap- 

 pendages — one on each side — inclosing, I suppose, the branchiae 

 or gills. They were about a quarter of an inch in length, and gave 

 the insect a fringed appearance. On the last segment they ap- 

 proached and overlapped the anal setae. The square head of the 

 insect was suggestive ; and I said to myself: " This is the larva 

 of the Horned Corydalis," and accordingly took measures for its 

 safety. 



I procured a large flower- pot, and half filled it with earth. In 

 this earth I sank, to the rim, a glass saucer, full of water. I then 

 put in the lava, and covered the pot with a pane of glass. The 

 creature buried itself on the second day. I left it undisturbed 

 for a week, and then thought I would remove the earth carefully 

 until I came to it ; but, on lifting the glass saucer, I found that 

 I had no need to do more, for the larva lay exposed before me — 



