54 NEUEOPTERA. 



colour, may be seen in the summer and autumn months, 

 flying about near ponds, rivers, or canals, their little 

 forms glittering in the sunshine they revel in, or alight- 

 ing on the surface of water weeds to deposit their eggs 

 to their stalks.* 



Fig. 8 will be recogniseil by my readers as one of the 

 largest of our Dragon-dies ; it is the Cordidegaster 

 annulatus of Entomologists ; it is a fine and handsome 

 species, and has its body marked with golden-yellow 

 stripes. 



Dragon-flies with flat and short bodies {Libellida 

 depressa) may often be seen hawking in pursuit of flies 

 and moths, upon which these insects feed ; these are of 

 a dull-blue and golden-brown colour. Most Dragon-flies 

 have a dark mark on each wing near the tip ; in Calop- 

 teryx virgo it is absent. This spot is called the stigma. 



There is a popular belief in this country that Dragon- 

 flies sting horses, hence these insects are called Horse- 

 stingers ; it is needless to observe that neither Dragon- 

 flies nor any other Neuropterous insects possess a sting; 

 nor can they bite through the tough skin of a horse. It 

 is possible that these large and strong flying insects 

 coming suddenly within a few feet of a nervous horse's 

 head would startle and alarm him, leaving the impression 

 on the part of the uninstructed in Entomological matters 

 that the horse had been literally stung. Last year 1 



* I can corroborate Mr. Patterson's account to Prof. Westwouil, 

 tliat these female Agrions occasionally descend to a considerable 

 depth below the surface-. On one occasion I noticed one of these 

 little Agrions walk quiietly down the stem of a water weed to the 

 depth of a foot ; she then stopped ; her motive was doubtless 



