THE RHAPHIDIINA. 211 



and rather slender neck for the support of a tolerably 

 large oval head, the general appearance of the parts 

 being such as to render their English title of Snake- 

 flies by no means inappropriate. The eyes, which 

 are rather small but prominent, are placed quite at 

 the front of the head, and between, but a little behind 

 them, three ocelli are situated. The antennae are of 

 moderate length, filiform, and composed of numerous 

 joints, and the acute, toothed mandibles indicate the 

 predaceous habits of which the very aspect of the 

 creature suggests its possession. The other segments 

 of the thorax are broad and short, and bear each a 

 pair of large, irregularly reticulated wings, which lie 

 upon the sides of the body during repose, and all the 

 three segments of this region of the body are far- 

 nished with legs adapted solely for walking"^, the 

 anterior pair being inserted at the hinder part of the 

 prothorax. The tarsi consist of five joints, of which 

 the third is dilated, and divided into two lobes, whilst 

 the fourth is exceedingly minute. The abdomen of 

 the female is terminated by a long, slender, sword- 

 shaped ovipositor, which is composed of two thin 

 valves, and terminated by a pair of excessively minute 

 oval appendages. 



The Common Snake-fly {R. ophiopsis) already 

 referred to, is a small insect about half an inch in 

 length, of a blackish-green colour, with a slightly 



* In the foreign MantispidcB, which are generally regarded as 

 nearly allied to Rkaphidia, the anterior legs are attached to the 

 anterior part of the elongated prothorax close to the head, their 

 coxae are greatly elongated, and the whole limb is converted into 

 a prehensile organ, similar to that existing in the Orthopterous 

 Mantidce, to which they have been considered as constituting a 

 transition. 



