612 



NEUROPTERA. 



is very long and slender, and the wings are long, narrow and 

 densely veined. The larva (Fig. G03) bears a close resemblance 

 to that of Chrysopa. It makes a pitfall in fine sand at the bot- 

 tom of which it hides, leaving only the tips of its mandibles in 

 ^, . sight, which are extended 



and ready to seize any 

 insect which may fall 

 into them. The pupa re- 

 tains the large mandibles 

 and uses them in cutting 

 ^i^- ^^^- its way out of its cocoon. 



Myrmeleon obsoletus Say (Fig. 604) is not rare in the warmer 

 parts of the country, and has been found at Salem, Mass., by 

 Dr. E. P. Colby. 31. abdominalis Say has also been found as 



far north as Milton, Mass., by 

 Mr. J. Scholield. Mr. R. Tri- 

 men, speaking of the Entomo- 

 Fig. 602. logy of Natal, South Africa 



(Entomological Monthly Magazine), notes the habits 

 of a "huge Myrmeleon, of the genus Palpares, the 

 spotted and variegated aspect of whose wings Avill 

 cause you to mistake them for moths. . . . These 

 great insects are very unlike Libellulidce in their 

 flight, flapping wildly and irregularly about, as if their ^'»- ''*''^- 

 muscular apparatus were too weak to wield their stretch of 

 wings. In repose the wings are folded above each other so as 

 to form an acute-angled roof above the abdomen. They differ 

 in this respect from the long-horned Ascalaphi^ which deflect 



the wings on either side, 

 ^'"r'-^t^--.. ^ ^ f _rf<^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^® abdomen 

 iy ^ --^^^Sfe-aJ^S^F^^^'^a.^ erect or nearly so." 



~" — - - Ascalaphus with its 



long filiform knobbed 



antennae, and broad 



wings and gay colors is 



Fig- 604. tjjg butterfly among Neu- 



roptera. It flies in the heat of the day, seeking the hottest 



places and is abundant in the deserts of the East. The body 



and feet are short and the large wings are less densely veined 



