xx INSECTA: NEUROPTERA 297 



front margin of each wing is an oblong dark mark or " stigma." 

 The hind wings are slightly larger than the fore wings, and 

 are broad at the base. The thorax is necessarily large and 

 thick to contain the powerful muscles which move the wings. 

 At the end of the ten-jointed abdomen is a small pair of 

 processes known as the daspers, by means of which the male 

 grasps the female. 



Food and The legs of the adult are thin and weak, being 



Capture of used for clinging to objects but not for walking : 

 Prev - apparently they are also used in catching food. 

 The Dragon-fly is a voracious eater of other insects, catch- 

 ing them as they fly. When it is flying, the legs are all 

 turned forward under the mouth. Each leg is fringed with 

 stiff" hairs, and it is possible that they form a kind of net, in 

 which the insects are caught before being conveyed to the 

 mouth and masticated by the powerful mandibles. There is, 

 however, some doubt on this point, 1 and more observations 

 are desirable both on it and on the custom attributed to 

 individual dragon-flies of frequenting special hunting-grounds. 

 The mandibles, though strong, cannot inflict any note- 

 worthy wound on the human hand ; neither does the 

 Dragon-fly sting, though the old mistaken idea that the 

 pointed tip of the abdomen contained a sting has gained for 

 the creature the undeserved names of the "Horse-stinger" 

 and the " Devil's Darning Needle " ! 



Reproduc- After fertilisation has occurred, the eggs are 

 tion. deposited by the female upon water-plants, the 



The Eggs. s tem of a plant just below the surface of the 

 water being pierced by the sharply pointed ovipositor, which 

 is projected from the end of the body of the female. 

 In each puncture one egg is deposited. 



The Larva "^ n ^ ree or ^ our wee ^s, there emerges from the 

 egg a larva which, though able for a time to 

 swim freely by moving its legs, soon makes its way to the 

 pond bottom and there walks about, though it still occasionally 

 takes to swimming with a curious jerky motion due to the 

 sudden expulsion of a jet of water from the end of the tail. 



The larva is a dingy, ugly creature, with at first no trace 

 of wings. It has a broad head with small antennae and very 



1 See Natural History of some Common Animals, by 0. H. Latter, 

 p. 101. 



