128 IRambles with IRature Stubentd 



I hardly liked to touch a sluggish crawling grub 

 which was burying itself in the mud that I had 

 brought up in my first haul from the pond. This 

 creature, however, proved well worth examination, for 

 it was a dragon-fly larva, provided with a remarkable 

 lobster-like claw with which to seize its prey. As 

 the grub lies concealed in the mud some insect 

 approaches it, and as soon as its prey is within reach, 

 the claw, which has been folded up out of sight, is 

 darted out and secures the insect with unerring aim. 



DRAGON-FLY PUPA 

 (Natural size). 



I was presently fortunate enough to secure several 

 of the larger kind of beetles, and amongst them 

 Dytiscus marginalis^ the male possessing smooth 

 brown wing-cases and the female having furrowed 

 elytra. The curious discs upon the fore-legs of these 

 insects are worthy of notice, for they possess the 

 function of suckers, and enable the beetle to fix itself 

 firmly to any solid substance. 



Securing one of these beetles in a jug, I tried to 

 pour it and the water into a glebe, but the beetle, 



