PHYLUM ARTHROPODA 



349 



Fig. 280. — Order Neuroptera. Lace- 

 wing fly, Chrysopa, with eggs and larva. 

 (From Packard.) 



Order 12. Neuroptera. — Aphis-lions, Dobson-flies, and 

 Ant-lions (Fig. 280). — Insects possessing four membranous 

 wings with many veins; 

 biting mouth-parts; com- 

 plete metamorphosis. 



Only a few families 

 have been left in the old 

 Linnean order Neurop- 

 tera ; the rest have been 

 taken out and grouped to- 

 gether as distinct orders. 

 The dobson-fly, Cory- 

 dalis cormita, is a well- 

 known representative. 



Its larva has many local names and is used extensively as fish 

 bait. The larva? of Hemerobius and of the lace-wing fly, 

 Chrysopa (Fig.- 280), are called aphis-lions since they destroy 

 countless numbers of aphids by piercing them with their sharp 



jaws and drinking their blood. The 

 eggs of Chrysopa are fastened to the 

 top of upright threads which are 

 attached to a twig or leaf; they are 

 thus protected from predaceous insects, 

 including the young aphis-lions them- 

 selves. The larvae of many ant-lions 

 live at the bottom of pits in the sand, 

 where they capture and drink the 

 blood of any ants that chance to slip 

 down into the trap. 



Order 13. Mecoptera. — Scorpion 

 Flies and Others (Fig. 281). — In- 

 sects possessing four membranous wings 

 with numerous veins; head prolonged 

 into a beak; biting mouth -parts; metamorphosis complete. 

 The common name of these insects is due to the fact that in 



Fig. 281. — Order Mecop- 

 tera. Scorpion fly, Panorpa 

 communis, male. (From 



Sedgwick's Zoclogy, after 

 Sharp.) 



