NEUROPTERA, l^f 



are tectiform; the last joint of the palpi is thickest, ovoid and pointed. 

 The larvae are terrestrial. They form tlie genus 



IIemerobius, Lat., 



Or Hemerobius, properly so called, also styled Demoiselles terres- 

 tre<;. Their body is soft, and the globular eyes are frequently orna- 

 mented with metallic colours; the wings are large, and their exterior 

 border is widened. They fly slowly and heavily; several diffuse a 

 strong fai^cal odour, with winch the (inger that has touched them re- 

 mains for a long time impregnated. 



The female deposits ten or twelve eggs on leaves ; they are oval, 

 Avhite, and secured by a very long and capillary pedicle. Some 

 authors have mistaken them for a species of mushroom. The larvae 

 bear a considerable resemblance to those of the preceding division ; 

 they are, however, more elongated and errant. Reaumur calls them 

 Lions des Pucerons because they feed on Aphides. They seize them 

 Avith their horn-like mandibles, and soon exhaust them by suction. 

 Some form a thick case for themselves of their remains, which gives 

 them a very singular appearance. The nymph is enclosed in a silken 

 coccon of an extremely close tissue, the volume of which is very 

 small when compared with that of the Insect. The fiisi of the larvae 

 are situated at the posterior extremity of the abdomen, like those of 

 the larvae of the Myrmeleonides. 



H. perla, L.; Roes., Insect., Ill, SuppL, xxi, 4, 5. Green- 

 yellow ; eyes golden ; wings transparent, with entirely green 

 nervures *. 

 The H. maculatus. Fab., has three little ocelli, while in all the 

 rest of the species they are wanting. It forms the genus 



OsMYLUs, Lai. f 



The same character is presented in the genus 



Nymph Es, Leach, 



Established on certain Insects from New Holland; but here the 

 antennae are filiform and shorter :|:. 



In the others the first segment of the thorax is large, and the wings 

 are laid horizontally on the body; the palpi are filiform, and the last 

 joint is conical or almost cylindrical, and frequently shorter than the 

 preceding one. The larvae are aquatic. 



Fabricius unites them with the species of the genus Perla of 



* Add Hemerobius filosus and the albiis, capitatus, phalanoides, nidduhis, hirttts, 

 fuscatus, humuli, variegatus, and nervosm, Fab. See Lat., Gen. Crust, et Insect., 

 Ill, p. 196. 



t Lat., Ibid. 



X Nymphes myrmeleonides, Leach, Zool. Miscell., xlv. Perhaps it may have six 

 palpi, and in that case it belongs to the preceding division. 



