NEUKOPTERA. 131 



however, it must be owned that on occasion the wasp 

 has been known to get the better of his big adversary. 



In the larva and pupa there is a special and curious 

 contrivance to enable the insect to seize his prey. This 

 is the lower lip, which is composed of four pieces joined 

 together, and is of great size in proportion to the other 

 part of the mouth. When at rest it is folded up and 

 laid over the mouth, which it entirely covers. When 

 called into action it is unfolded and projected forward, 

 and looks like a large, two-jointed bony tongue, termi- 

 nated by a pair of very jaw-like plates or nippers toothed 

 at their extremity, and which are supposed to represent 

 the labial palpi. It is with this instrument that the 

 apparently sluggish Dragonfly pupa seizes its living 

 struggling prey, and although the parts common to the 

 mouths of other insects may be traced here, their adapta- 

 tion in this case is peculiar to the Dragonflies. 



The transformation of the Dragonflies is gradual, like 

 that of the Grasshoppers, up to the point when the 

 pupa state is about to be exchanged for the winged, and 

 at this point as sudden a change of nature and appear- 

 ance is made as in the case of insects with quiescent 

 pupse, such as the Moths or Beetles. The sluggish mud- 

 coloured pupa ascends the stem of a grass, a rush, or 

 any other stalk or stick of convenient size which rises 

 above the surface of the water. Up this it crawls until 

 it is several inches from the water and conveniently 

 clear of neighbouring plants, or whatever else might 

 interfere with its operations. Here the pupa remains, 

 clinging with its legs to the support, the head upwards 

 and the body hanging down. After a time the 

 skin cracks behind, between or before the wing-cases, 

 and the head and thorax of the enclosed fly are drawn 



K -2 



