335 



of admii-alioii, but the splenild mstallic colours which go to adorn and 

 beautify insects of ordinary moilesty are apt, in these species, to be 

 completely lost sight of in considering their ferocity and bloodthirsty 

 nature. But in looking at these horiible creatures (as some consider 

 Ihera) more delibo-ately we find they are not so bad after all, for it is 

 in the satisfying of the demands of their voracious appetite that the 

 object of their existence is carried out and their benefits conferred upon 

 man. Were it not for the untiring wing and vigilant eye of these 

 insects, many other noxious and troublesome forms would have things 

 too much their own way. On the alert from morning to night they 

 wage a continuous warfare against the mosquito and other small flie?, 

 and even moths and butterflies, with their bodies distended with egg?, 

 on their way to some suitable jilace of deposit, are overtaken in the 

 lightning course of the large dragon-flie.s, pulled down, torn to pieces 

 and their soft parts devoured, and thus the embryonic forms of thou- 

 sands of baneful caterpillars, so injuiious to vegetation, are consumed 

 in a few mouthfuls. 



The tliree species I have mentioned are very common in these parts 

 and may be seen almost anywhere you go, between the first cf June and 

 the first of October, and even later in the season, flying over the water^ 

 through the woods and fields, along the roadsides, in gardens, and 

 according to somo accounts often get into kitchens, in which case 

 they soon become " Monarchs of all they survey." They often visit 

 unoccupied grounds near dwellings, between sunset and dusk. I 

 have frequently watched them measure oflf, as it were, about 100 

 feet square, then, keeping well within these bounds, proceed to inves- 

 tigate every foot of it until dark, then put up for the night on the 

 fence or on the side or roof of the nearest building. jE. verticalis 

 is about 2 1 inches in length ; alar expanse 3| inches — eighteen anticu- 

 bitals ; fourteen postcubitals. ^E. vinosa is a little longer ; alar expanse 

 3f inches — twenty anticubitals ; sixteen postcubitals. 



Tribe III. — Libellulina. The prettiest of all the large dragon-flies 

 are included in this division. I have noticed that writers describing 

 the bdonata invariably select one of the Libellulfe as a typical species 

 of the whole family, and from this standpoint proceed to depict them in 

 every other than a flattering manner ; this T consider is not fair, not 



