ORDER NEUROPTERA. 



Including the Dragon Flies, Lacewing Flies, Day Flies, 

 Stone Flies, Caddis Flies, and their Allies. 



Next to the butterflies and moths, the Neiiropiera (or nerve- 

 winged insects), to which belong the Dragon FUes, Lacewing FUes, 

 Day Flies, Stone Flies. Caddis Flies, and their allies, are undoubtedly 

 the most beautiful members of the insect tribe. Though they 

 cannot compete with the Lepidoptera in point of colouring, it is 

 questionable whether they are not more graceful and elegant in 

 appearance. 



The order Neuroptcra was founded by the great Swedish 



Fig. 41.— Ascacaphus Macaronius. 



naturalist Linnaeus, and its name has been kept intact since, 

 though the classification of the insects comprised in it has 

 undergone many modifications. 



The Neiiroptera are not a very numerous body of insects 

 compared with either the Colcoptera or Lepidoptera, but they 

 contain some of the largest and most handsome insects known. 

 The order is very well represented in the temperate zones, though 

 the finest species are met with in the tropical parts of the world. 

 Nearly 700 species are known to inhabit the British Isles. In the 



