ODONATA. 89 



than the larvae of Ephemeroptera, having more highly 

 specialized mouth parts and thorax. The adults are 

 active feeders, live longer, and have general functions 

 and a large field of work outside the act of reproduc- 

 tion. The organs of reproduction are, however, struct- 

 urally more specialized than in Ephemeroptera, and 

 resemble in general those of other insects. The 

 dragon-flies are eminently rapacious, like the hawks 

 and eagles among birds, and specialization for this 

 kind of life is shown in the long abdomen, thorax, 

 and size and power of the wings with relation to aerial 

 locomotion, and in the close resemblance of the adults 

 to the Myrmeleonidae among Neuroptera (see p. 175). 

 That these resemblances arose independently in the 

 Odonata and Myrmeleonidae is demonstrated by the 

 great differences in the larvae and modes of develop- 

 ment of the similar forms, and they are, therefore, not 

 derived from inheritance or genetic in origin, but par- 

 allel or representative characteristics which have arisen 

 independently in two different orders. 



