the Biology of some British Neuroptera. 553 



yellow, and in other cases orange or reddish. On the prothorax are 

 a pair of sunken, somewhat ovoid, black sclerites and between these 

 another sclerite of the same colour. Meso- and metathorax have 

 each one pair of small black sclerites. 



The abdomen is yellow laterally, with the central area continuing 

 from the thorax, orange. The red pigmentation is always most dense 

 in the meso- and metathorax. Underside of body wholly pale 

 yellow. Legs yellowish-white in colour, blackish at the knees and 

 tarsi. 



The larvae are very active and among the most voracious 

 of our British species. The cocoon is rather larger than 

 that of other species of Chrysopa, being on the average 

 5 mm. long. A more transparent equatorial band is often 

 very evident. 



The two following examples represent typical life-cycles. 



The insect hibernates as a larva within the cocoon. 

 Chrysopa flava appears especially to favour oaks, where the 

 larva has been seen feeding upon Jassids, once on a small 

 beetle, and once on a spider. In captivity, larvae will 

 accept any species of aphid excejit the woolly forms. It is 

 therefore to be assumed that the natural food does not 

 include such. 



Chrysopa vulgaris Schneider. 

 Wing expanse 26-30 mm. 



In spite of its specific name, this species is not one of 

 the commonest in Britain, although at the time of 

 MacLachlan's monograph it was apparently abundant. 

 It is a small species with a yellow dorsal vitta running the 

 entire length of the body, very like C. tenella. It can at once 

 be separated from any other British species by the vena- 

 tional character given by MacLachlan (9). The head is 

 unspotted, but the sides of genae and ciypeus are suffused 

 with deep orange colour. 



Larvae and adults have been found in coniferous and 



