ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ONTARIO. 55 



Expedition of 1889, at the Azores, numbered among them two specimens of the butterfly. 

 There were only about a dozen specimens of insects taken at the Azores by the industri- 

 ous (]) naturalists of the party^ and I judge that it must be common there. Why we have 

 not yet heard of its domiciliation on the African continent is a mystery to me. It will, 

 no doubt, get there before long. 



I have a specimen of Limenitis taken in Warren County, Pa , this summer, which is 

 most remarkable. It has all the markings of L.ursula, but both the primaries and sec- 

 ondaries are crossed by very broad white bands as in L. Arthemis. It is, however, 

 larger than any specimen of Arthemis I have ever .seen, and exceeds the majority 

 of L. Ursula in size. It has the white spots in the cell of the primaries, which appear 

 in some female specimens of L. Weidemeyeri. It is altogether a queer beast combining 

 the characteristics of three of our species. No doubt they all sprang from a common 

 ancestry, and this specimen reveals the force of atavism. 



THE DRAGON-FLY. 



By T. J. MacLaughlin, Ottawa. 



As Economic Entomology has become so important a subject to the farmer, fruit- 

 grower, gardener, and others, and as all insects are now regarded as either noxious or 

 beneficial, a few words in reference to the Dragon-fly might not, perhaps, be without in- 

 terest, and might assist those who may not be conversant with its habits in assigning it a 

 proper place in the field of economy. 



The dragon-fly family — Odonaia — belongs to the order Pseudo{ovia.\se)Ifeuroptera. 

 That is to say, to that order of mandibulate insects having four membranaceous reticulate 

 wings, and which undergo an incomplete metamorphosis or transformation. 



The family is divided into three tribes : Agrio7iina, Aesehnina, and Libellulina 

 and these again into sub-divisions. 



The first tribe, yIg'rio?ima, embraces all the smaller forms —commonly called hammer- 

 heads — and some of the most beautiful of the whole family, such as the different species 

 of Oalopteryx, as the name implies. C. maculata, C. virgmica, G. ceqicabilis, etc. 



The wings of all the species of this genus are densely reticulate, broad at, or near, 

 the apex, or tip, and very narrow at the base, with many anticubital veins, and the 

 ptei'ostigma wanting in the males ; the color of the wings varies according to the species — 

 jet black, brown, hyaline, semi-transparent and clouded ; and the head, thorax and abdo- 

 men are of a light green or blue. From their erratic course, the color and comparatively 

 slow motions of their wings, and habit of alighting so frequently, they are readily mis- 

 taken for butterflies. They proceed from and spend their life along swift running 

 waters, especially such streams as flow through woods or shaded places ; while the other 



insects of the same tribe — the Agrions, etc., 

 proceed from, and frequent only stagnant pools, 

 or the borders of very sluggish streams. This 

 tribe is composed of two sub-families and two 

 legions, with many genera, sub-genera and 

 species, all presenting the same peculiarities — 

 slow, graceful flight and delicate constitutions. 

 The noiseless, gentle movements of these pretty 

 little "objects (and they are sometimes found to- 

 gether in vast numbers) dressed in many colors, 

 is truly a picture of combined beauty, ease and 

 -p^^ 28 contentment, rarely seen. Thousands of the 



small creatures might float through the air 

 about the ears of the beholder and not a sound could be heard to indicate their presence. 

 They .show their aflection for each other in the most impassionate and gentle manner ; 

 the male, with the little forceps at the extremity of his abdomen, clasps the female 

 gently about the neck, and in this way they fly away on their hymeneal wanderings in 

 the same slow and careless manner which characterizes their movements when flying alone. 



