ORDER in. ODONATA. 



LIBELLULID^. 



More can be done by young persons with this order 

 of insects than with the Thysanura or Ephemeroptera, 

 and therefore we have figured and described it more 

 fully. PL III., Figs. 31, 32, p. 73, represent one of our 

 common large dragon-flies, Libellula tri macula /a, De 

 Geer, which is a good type of the order. It is found 

 with other species near ponds and brooks, where speci- 

 mens can be caught with a net, and afterward killed 

 with chloroform or cyanide of potassium ; they can also 

 be preserved in alcohol by using wide-mouthed bottles. 

 Strong ammonia^ or benzine can be used by young 

 children. Among the different species collected may 

 be found Libellula pukhella (Fig. t^t^, p. 74), a form 

 which is mistaken at first sight for Z. trimaculata^ 

 owing to the three dark spots in the wings. Fig. 33 is 

 a drawing of this species made a few hours after its 

 transformation, which took place on the i8th of June. 



The body of the dragon-fly is long and cylindrical, 

 and the three regions, head, thorax, and abdomen, are 

 loosely connected. This laxity of parts is, in fact, 



1 Children should be warned against being careless or playing 

 tricks upon each other with ammonia. It is dangerous when 

 diluted and swallowed, easily producing suffocation, and may 

 be the cause of serious accidents when incautiously breathed 

 by persons with weak lungs. 



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