712. 



LIBELLULA RUBICUNDA. 



Order Neuroptera. Fam. Libellulida?. 



Type of the Genus, Libellula depressa Linn. 

 LiBELLULA Linn. &c. — Curt. Guide, Gen. 725. 



Antenna insQxtQdi on each side of a vesicle before the eyes, short 

 slender setiform and 6-jointed, basal joint the stoutest, short 

 and cylindrical, 2nd not so stout but a little longer and bristly, 

 the remainder slender and setaceous, 3rd joint much the longest, 

 4th scarcely so long as the 2nd, 5th a little longer, 6th as long 

 as the 3rd, acute at the apex and terminating in a bristle (1). 

 La&rwm large, transverse, convex, semioval, bristly outside (2). 

 Tongue ? subovate, dilated tovi^ards the apex and bristly (*). 

 Mandibles short and stout, deeply bifid at the apex, with a 

 cluster of 4 or 5 short teeth on the inside (3). 

 Maccillce with a short stipes, the terminal portion dilated at the 

 base, rounded and bristly internally, the apex claw-shaped, 

 with 2 smaller teeth below and 3 long stout spines on the out- 

 side, external lobe long curved and very bristly (4). 

 Mentum small. Lip very large and convex, formed of 2 qua- 

 drate orbicular lobes very bristly on the margins (5), with 2 mi- 

 nute teeth at the inner angle, opj^osite each other (^). 

 Head large, the base concave ; eyes very large, meeting on the crown : 

 ocelli 3, placed round a vesicle before the eyes. Thorax large and 

 oblong. Abdomen moderately long, sometimes broad depressed and 

 attenuated at the apex, with 2 horny lobes at the base in the males, 

 and 2 moveable lobes at the apex (6 (^) ; females with 2 shorter 

 lobes at the apex ( ? ). Wings extended horizontally, alike m both 

 sexes, inferior the broadest, especially at the base, very much reticu- 

 lated, stigma elongated but short in some. Legs, anterior the stout- 

 est, hinder a little the longest : thighs spiny on the inside : tibiae 

 slender, with 2 series of spreading acute slender spines on each side : 

 tarsi short triarticulate, hinder the longest, basal joint the shortest, 

 terminal the longest : claws cleft towards the apex. 

 Larva and Pupae aquatic, short and broad, both furnished with legs 

 for walking, similar to the imago. Roesel, v. 2. tab. 6. f. 1. 2. 



RuBicuNDA Linn. — pectoralis Charp. ? — dubia Vand. Lin. ? 



Male. Dull black, face and labrum yeUowish-white : thorax with 2 

 deep orange stripes before the wings and several marks under 

 them ; the disc, including the scutel, postscutel and scapulae 

 sanguineous : abdomen with the 1 st segment, excepting the 

 base, and the basal ring of the 2nd, sanguineous, this and the 

 4 following with deep orange spots at or near the base, more or 

 less ovate and increasing in size ; underside blueish-grey : wings 

 hyaline, nervures piceous, the costal and transverse costal ner- 

 vures whitish ; stigma oval and brown, a small brown spot at 

 the base of the superior, and a small and larger one at the base 

 of the inferior wings. Female. Labrum brown with yellowish 

 spots, the spots on the thorax and abdomen all yellow, the 

 latter with 3 large yellow spots on each side of the base, and 

 one on each side of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th segments, the central 

 one the largest : the basal spots on the wings arc more extended. 

 In the Cabinets of Mr. Dale, the Author, S^c. 



