ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ONTARIO. 



57 



'<«"'^^JWith this short and very imperfect description of the three tribes in the perfect, or 

 winged state, something may now be said with rei^ard to the earlier stages of their ex- 

 istence. Dragoa-flies are then wholly aquitic animils and are carnivorous in 

 all their stages. The parent fly lays her eggs in the water ; some drop 

 the eggs in while flying over the water ; others submerge the abdomen and glue 

 the eggs to reeds or sticks, while certain species go below the surface several 

 inches for the same purpose. It is not detinitely known how long the eggs 

 are in hatching, nor the length of time the young remain in their larval and pupal 

 states, but the water period of existence is variously stated to be from one to three years, 

 the time varying according to the species. It is known, however, that they all feed upon 

 other aquatic forms of animal life, to a large extent upon the larvreof the mosquito, etc. 

 The larva (Fig. 33, left hand), can only be distinguished from the pupa (Fig. 33, right 

 hand), by the latter having wing )>ads, the insect being equally active in both stages. 

 When the pupje are ready for transformation they crawl out of the water upon the stems 

 and branches of plants, secure a firm hold and remain until the skin is dried, which then 



Fig. 33. 



splits on the back and the perfect insect comes slowly forth, leaving the hull or pupa case 

 clinging to the plant. Many of these may be seen long afterwards in the same position 

 on reeds and grasses, along the borders of streams, ponds, etc. After coming from these 

 a short time is required to dry and expand the wings ; then away flies this beautiful 

 creature, with gauzy wings of many colors, which, but a few moments before, was a 

 horrible, repulsive, voracious object, crawling over the slimy bottom of a filthy pool of 

 stagnant water. Some of the larger species of these insects are very sluggish in their 

 larval state, and on this account nature has endowed them with a very remarkable 

 weapon (Fig. 33 left), which enables them to capture their prey in this and their pupal .-^tate, 

 as readily as they can afterwards do upon the wing ; it consists in a prolongation of the 

 under lip, which is very long and shaped like a ladle, the end terminating with two in 

 curved hooks or mandibles. When the insect is at rest this elongated lip is folded and 

 concealed beneath the under jaw until some luckless creature comes within striking 

 distance, when out slips this trap-like apparatus (against which its victim has made no 

 provision) and secures the booty. 



With regard to their manner of breathing, Duncan, in his work on the transforma- 

 tion of insects, says : " The larvfe and nymphs, although living under water and must re- 

 spire, have no external organs by which they can breathe. Their method of respiration 



