420 



THE INSECT WORLD. 



The elegance of their shape, the grace of their movements, have won 

 for them among the French their common appellation of " Demoiselles." 

 They are always of largish size. Many are of bright and metallic 



colours, which are not inferior in 

 beauty to those of butterflies. Their 

 wings, of an extreme delicacy, always 

 glossy and brilliant, present varied 

 tints; sometimes they are completely 

 transparent, and have all the colours 

 of the rainbow. Often, the colour 

 of the males differs from that of the 

 females. They may be seen flut- 

 tering about on the water during the 

 whole summer, especially when the 

 sun is at its highest. They fly with 

 extreme rapidity, skimming over the 

 water at intei*vals, and escaping easily 

 when one wishes to catch them. 

 Nothing is prettier than a troop of 

 dragon-flies taking their sport on the 

 side of a pond or on the banks of a 

 river, on a fine summer's day, when 

 a burning sun causes their wings to 

 shine with most vivid colours. 



In the perfect state, as well as 

 in that of the larva and the pupa, 

 the Libellulce are carnivorous. Their 

 rapid flight makes them expert 

 hunters, and their enormous eyes embrace the whole horizon, lliey 

 seize, while on the wing, flies and butterflies, and tear them to pieces 

 immediately with their strong mandibles. Sometimes, the ardour of 

 the chase leading them on far from the streams, they are met with in 

 the fields. The female lays her eggs in the water, from which emerge 

 larvae which remind one somewhat of the form of the insect, only 

 their body is more compact and their head flattened. The larvae and 

 pupae inhabit the bottom of ponds and streams, where, keeping out 

 of sight in the mud, they seek for insects, molluscs, small fish, &c. 

 If any prey passes within their reach, they dart forward, like a 

 spring, a very singular arm, which represents the under lip. It is 

 a sort of animated mask, armed with strong jagged pincers and 

 supported by strong joints, the which, taken together, is equal to the 

 length of the body itself. This mask acts at the same time as a lif 



Fig. 393. — Cloeon diptera. 



