88 NEUROPTERA. 



OEDER NEUROPTERA. 



Wings four, of similar texture, generally with numerous veins ; 

 naked or hairy ; mouth furnished with mandibles : female rarely 

 with a conspicuous ovipositor, and never armed with a sting; 

 larva with six legs ; metamorphoses complete or incomplete. 



It is difficult to lay down characters for this extensive Order, 

 which is now made to include a large number of insects which 

 many writers have treated as })elonging to distinct Orders. Still 

 the unnecessary multiplication of primary divisions is always an 

 evil, especially as it tends to encourage the study of isolated groups 

 which ought rather to be considered together ; and, to quote an 

 expression of Boisduval's relative to subdividing the genus Papilio, 

 " we must either retain it in its entirety, or break it into " many 

 Orders. 



Odonata, 



Wings naked, not folded in repose ; eyes large and prominent ; 

 jaws well developed ; antennae short, not clavate ; abdominal append- 

 ages short ; metamorphoses incomplete ; larva and pupa aquatic, 

 active, the latter generally resembling the imago, and with rudi- 

 mentary wings ; habits predatory and carnivorous in all stages. 



The Odonata, or Dragon Flies, are among the handsomest and 

 most conspicuous of our native insects. The larger species are to 

 be seen chasing their insect prey over water, or along the lanes 

 and hedgerows ; and, being insects of powerful flight, may often be 

 met with in forest glades or on heaths at a considerable distance 

 from water, while the smaller and more delicate species are gene- 

 rally to be found fluttering over streams or resting on water- 

 plants. They may be divided into two families, and these again 

 into sub-families. 



Family I. — Libellulidce. 



Hind wings always broader than the fore wings; structure 

 generally robust, flight powerful. 



In the first sub-family, the LibelluUnce, the lower lip is smaller 



