108 



THE DRAGON FLY. 



eggs. There must be more than one hundred eggs in one of 

 the large bunches. The eggs of some of the Agrions are bright 

 apple -green, but I cannot be sure that I have ever seen them in 

 the very act of ovipo.sition. They have curious habits of set 

 tling upon leaves and grass growing in the water, and often 

 allow their abdomens to fall below the surface of the water; 

 sometimes they fly against the surface, but I never saw what I 



could assert to be the project 

 ing of the eggs from the body 

 upon plants or into the water. 

 The English entomologists 

 assert that the female Agrioii 

 goes below the surface to a 

 depth of several inches to 

 deposit eggs upon the sub 

 merged stems of plants.&quot; The 

 Agrions, however, according 

 to Lucaze Duthiers, a French 

 anatomist, make, with the ovi 

 positor, a little notch in the 

 plant upon which they lay their 

 eggs. 



These eggs soon hatch, pro 

 bably during the heat of sum 

 mer. The larva is very active 

 in its habits, being provided 

 with six legs, attached to the 

 thorax, on the back of which 

 are the little wing-pads, or 

 rudimentary wings. The large 



127. Under side of head of Diplax, 

 with the labium or mask fully ex 

 tended. x,x ,x&quot;,t\\G three subdi 

 visions of the labium. y, the max 

 illa; or second pair of jaws. 



head is provided with enor 

 mous eyes, while a pair of sim 

 ple, minute eyelets (ocelli) are 

 placed near the origin of the small bristle-like feelers, or anten 

 nae. Seen from beneath, instead of the formidable array of 

 jaws and accessory organs commonly observed in most carniv 

 orous larva?, we see nothing but a broad, smooth mask covering 

 the lower part of the face ; as if from sheer modesty our young 

 Dragon fly was endeavoring to conceal a gape. But wait a 

 moment. Some unwary insect comes within striking distance. 

 The battery of jaws is unmasjted, and opens upon the victim. 



