35 6 TRANSFORMATIONS OF INSECTS. 
length, and they are beautifully reticulated by interlacing ner- 
vures ; they have a large head and great eyes, and small antenne. 
They have a quick sight, and fly with great rapidity, backwards, 
forwards, sideways, upwards, and downwards, and without turning; 
their mouth is strengthened to the utmost; their jaws are strong, 
and end in sharp points. The mandibles are provided with 
keen teeth, and the lower lip is very large, and its palps are 
short and thick. Thus armed, they chase and pull down every 
fly, moth, or butterfly which they come across. They rend these 
delicate creatures, and eat them; but frequently they appear to 
kill for killing’s sake. These Meuroptera, especially the males, 
have a curious pincer at the extremity of the body. The lady 
dragon flies are as sanguinary as the males, from whom they 
do not appear to receive the most polite treatment; and the 
courtship is a scene of general bad behaviour and_ violence. 
They all undergo incomplete metamorphoses. The eggs are laid 
upon the water, and the larve take very kindly to that element. 
As the larve grow their body becomes larger, their head flatter, 
and their eyes wider apart than those of the perfect insect. They 
are not less bloodthirsty than the adults, but they are very slow 
in their movements, and they do not appear to have the instinct 
to hide themselves in order to catch their prey. Nevertheless, 
they have no difficulty in seizing very active insects which come 
swimming along, for the larve and nymphs have a_ most 
remarkable weapon in their lower lip. The lip is very long, and 
has palps formed in the shape of pincers. It is attached to the 
chin, which is also very long, by a sort of hinge, which allows it to 
rest against the under part of the body when the insect is quiet. 
Suppose the larva is looking out for prey; it remains perfectly 
quiet until some small insect passes by at what might be con- 
sidered a safe distance, but the victim has not calculated upon the 
hidden weapon which is suddenly straightened and poked forward 
and which clasps the unfortunate with its pincers. The larva and 
the nymphs, although they live under water and must respire, have 
no branchize or any external organs by which they can breathe. 
Their method of respiration is unique; they breathe with their 
intestines. The large intestine is covered with numerous trachea, 
and when the animal wishes.to breathe it opens the orifice of 
