AGKIONID.E. AGKIOX. ^1 



apex of the abdomen^ which is terminated by three broad, somewhat elliptic 

 plates: the mask is flat, with the upper edge of the mentum in some termi- 

 nating in a point, or forked in others. 



The indigenous species are comprehended in the following genera, 

 thus distinguished by external characters : — 



Alee membranaceiE ; stigmata rhomboidea : . . • 7- Agrion. 



oblongo-quadrata : . . .8. Lestes. 



coriaceo-membranaceffi, s/i^;wa/a nulla : . . .9. Calepteryx. 



Genus VII.— AGRION, Leach. 



Wings very narrow, thin and membranaceous, composed of numerous areolets, 

 the major portion of which are tetragonal and quadrate, the fourth lon- 

 gitudinal nervure not angulated towards the apex : stigma rhomboidal : 

 abdomen very slender, linear, its apex in the males not furnished with 

 forceps, but with from two to six short appendages, of variable form : of the 

 female simple. Mask of the larva with a single projection on the upper 

 edge of the mentum. 



This genus differs conspicuously from Lestes in the structure of 

 its wings, and may be readily distinguished therefrom by the following 

 characters, viz. that the majority of the areolets are 4-angled and 

 nearly quadrate, there being usually but one, or at the most two, 

 rows on the hinder margin and apex, that are 5-angular ; the stigma 

 also is rhomboidal : the species are much smaller than those of the 

 following gen VIS, the head narrower in proportion, the body more 

 cylindric and linear, and in the males destitute of forceps ; though 

 in one species the caudal appendage is curved and somewhat forci- 

 pated, but that may be known from Lestes by the wings and by 

 having the posterior tibiae dilated. 



A. ^Four posterior tihice not dilated (^caudal appendage of the males not 



incurved). 

 Sp. 1. rubellum. Plate xxix.y. 4. — Rufescens, capite postice et thorace supra 

 fusco-ceneis, abdoinine maris riibro,fos77iince tiigro, basi rubra, pedibus rubris. 

 (Long. Corp. 1 unc. 2 — 3 lin. ; Exp. Alar. 1 unc. 5 — 6 lin.) 



Ag. rubellum. Vaader Linden. — kg, rufipes. Steph. Catal. 307. No. 3410. 



Head above and behind, and the thorax above, brownish-brass, beneath 

 reddish or greenish; abdomen bright red, immaculate; legs pale red; wings 

 with a pale fuscous stigma. Female with the abdomen black, the two basal 

 and the terminal segments, and a line beneath the others, red. 



The wings are sometimes suffused with pale yellow. 



Found in June near Brockenhurst, and in other parts of the New 



