16 NEW ZEALAND NEUROPTERA. 



The expansion of the wings is about 2^ inches, and the length of the body 

 about 2 inches. In the living insect the head is bronzy green in front with 

 the sides yellow ; the eyes are dark reddish-brown, in the female with 

 metallic green reflections ; in the male they are the most brilliant metallic 

 green. The thorax is metallic bronzy green, brighter in the male. The legs 

 are black ; the anterior femora wholly pale brown. In the female the wings 

 are often shaded with pale orange-brown just before the pterostigma. The 

 abdomen is black with bronzy-green reflections, the sides are marked with" 

 bright orange-brown, almost interrupted with black at each articulation. In 

 the male the abdomen is narrower at base and apex than in middle. The 

 superior anal appendages of the male are black, long, acute at the apex, and 

 bent upwards in the middle, converging and sub-dilated, angled exteriorily. 

 The inferior appendages are simple, half the length, triangular and yellow. 

 The anal appendages of the female are cylindrical, incurved, and acute. 



The nymph inhabits the mud at the bottom of stagnant 

 streams and ponds, feeding on the smaller insects which 

 frequent those situations. 



Its length when full grown is about 1 inch. The head is broad and some- 

 ' what triangular in shape when the mask is closed. The eyes are prominent 

 and black in colour. The antennae are seven-jointed, the two basal joints- 

 being considerably stouter than the remainder. The prothorax is small and 

 has a blunt protuberance at each of its anterior angles, the rest of the thorax 

 is of moderate size. The posterior wing-pads are larger than the anterior. 

 The abdomen is rather large. There is a crest of horny spines on the back 

 and the edges of several of the posterior segments are produced into horny 

 rlanges at the sides. The legs are long and slender and are very sparingly 

 clothed with minute bristles. The general colour is dull brown, with a row 

 of black dots on each side of the abdomen. 



This larva is extremely hard to find, and I spent at 

 least two hours carefully examining the mud from 

 a stagnant pool in the Hutt Kiver before I succeeded in 

 discovering a single specimen. When enveloped in the 

 mud, as the insect always is in a state of nature, it is quite 

 impossible to detect except by means of its movements,, 

 which are very deliberate. When full grown this nymph 

 leaves the water and ascends the stem of a neighbouring 

 plant, after which the w T inged insect escapes in the usual 

 way. 



The perfect dragon-fly is an extremely swift and 

 powerful flier. In fact its movements are so rapid that it 

 appears to vanish in one spot and reappear some yards 

 distant. It often occurs many miles away from water, 

 and I have observed it flying around mountain crags over 

 5,000 feet above the sea-level. Although so much smaller 

 in size it is far more difficult to capture than Uropetala 

 carovei, as it is so very timid, and when at rest it can 

 only be approached with the utmost caution. During the 

 last eighteen years its steady decline in numbers in the 

 vicinity of Wellington has been very noticeable, and it is 

 now quite a rare insect here. I conjecture that its dis- 



