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CHAPTER X. 



ORDER V. NEUROPTERA. 



IN Neuroptera we come to an order of insects against 

 which no charge can be brought by farmer or gardener, 

 by the owner of orchards, or of timber trees, or of pasture- 

 lands not one of these can, in our own country, have 

 a word to say against any one of the beautiful tribes con- 

 tained in the present order. 



Abroad so much cannot be said, for to Neuroptera 

 belongs the omnivorous White Ant, so great a scourge to 

 the districts in which it is found ; but even in hot 

 climates, this one family is the only considerable excep- 

 tion to the harmlessness, with regard to agriculture, of 

 the insects in this order. 



It contains many insects which, some by their beauty, 

 some by their frequent occurrence, have become so gene- 

 rally known, as to have obtained common English names. 

 The Dragonflies, with their netted wings, and slender 

 or flattened, and pointed bodies ; the long-tailed May-flies 

 or Troutflies, which may be seen near water on a sum- 

 mer's evening in countless swarms ; the speckled Scorpion 

 fly, with its curious pincer-like tail, to be found on every 

 hedge; the delicate green Lacefly, with its tenderly- 

 coloured body, large glistening wings, and glowing eyes, 

 all these are noted by others than Entomologists. 



Among the insects here named, some are to be found 



