Preface. vii 



or lists of localities, were supplied by Rev. J. E. 

 Tarbat, Messrs. C. A. Briggs, J. J. F. X. King, G. T. 

 Porritt, J. Arkle, \\\ J. Ashdown, H. J. Turner, 

 A. H. Hamm, R. C. Bradley, VV. H. Harwood, 

 M. Burr, O. Whittaker, S. A. Blinkarn, A. M. Rodger, 

 and many other friends and correspondents, as well as 

 by the magazines. The account of the habits and 

 distribution of the Scottish Dragonflies are due to a 

 great extent to the information supplied by Messrs. 

 King, Briggs, and K. J. Morton ; while most of the 

 Irish localities were obtained from the excellent paper 

 of the first on the " Neuropterous h^auna of Ireland," 

 published by the Natural History Society of Glasgow. 

 Photographic assistance in connection with several 

 figures was rendered by Mr. V . X. Clarke, and in two 

 cases by Mr. J. J. Collings, while Mr. F. Knock sup- 

 plied the figure of a hymenopterous parasite in Dragon- 

 flies' eggs. For the loan of some of the scarcer 

 British species I am indebted to Messrs. R. McLachlan, 

 J. J. Y. X. King, and S. L. Mosley. But especially am 

 I under obligation to Messrs. C. \. Briggs and W. D. 

 Drury for devoting a large amount of time to examining 

 the proof-sheets, to Mr. R. McLachlan for valuable 

 information on the nomenclature, and to Mr. W. F. 

 Kirby for assisting me with many of the scarcer books 

 on the subject at the Natural Histor)- Museum, 

 S. Kensington, especially in connection with the 

 synonymy. His own work on this subject — " A 

 Synonymic Catalogue of Neuroptera Odonata " — has 

 been freely consulted. 



Although, compared with the Lcpidoptcra, the 

 Odonata have received but scanty attention in the 



