THE MASTERY OF THE AIR 235 



It is useful for us to know that these insects 

 cannot fly far, for then we can protect our- 

 selves to a great extent by taking care that 

 their breeding-places stagnant water in the 

 case of the mosquito, manure- and refuse- 

 heaps in the case of the house-fly are not in 

 the immediate neighbourhood of our dwell- 

 ing-houses. 



But many other insects have great powers of 

 flight. The beautiful, big, rainbow-coloured 

 or sapphire-blue dragon-flies, which are so 

 conspicuous on our moors in sunny weather, 

 fly all day, and sometimes cover two or three 

 miles. They catch their prey of smaller insects 

 on the wing, and can suck the juices from them 

 without ceasing to fly. Their legs have be- 

 come so weak that they are of no use at all for 

 walking, but are used for perching, and for 

 catching and holding the prey. The bees, too, 

 as we may see for ourselves, are capable of 

 strong and rapid flight, and it has been proved 

 that their daily business of honey-getting may 

 lead them several miles from the hive. 



The power of flight in insects sometimes 

 rises to a very high pitch. A wasp has been 

 known to fly tail-foremost for a quarter of an 

 hour in front of a bicycle. Dragon-flies, which 



