Nerve-winged or Lace-winged Insects 



699 



Photo by W. Sat'Me-Kent, F.Z.S.] \_Milford-on-Sea. 



TEKMITKS' NEST. 

 Showing one year's reconstruction to nest, of which the photographer made a section. 



out of the cocoon which it made, when a larva, by spinning grains of sand together with silken 

 threads. 



In some South European and African insects allied to the ant-lions the hind wings are 

 modified into extremely long and slender shafts, slightly expanded at the extremities. In 

 an Indian species belonging to a 

 related genus these wings are scarcely 

 more than threads, and bear a super- 

 ficial resemblance to the attenuated 

 limbs of certain gnats. One group, 

 of which a Japanese species is a 

 well-known representative, is char- 

 acterised by the long, slender, and 

 clubbed antennse. 



The MANTIS-FLIES are remark- 

 able for the structure of the fore 

 limbs, which are almost exactly 

 similar in character to those of the 

 praying-mantis. The upper segment 

 of the leg is so lengthened as to look 

 like an additional joint ; the lower 

 surface of the thigh is armed with a 

 number of long, sharp spines ; and 

 the tibia, or lower part of the leg, 

 folds closely down upon it, after the 

 manner of the blade of a clasp-knife. 

 These limbs are used for seizing, an insect which is once grasped being effectually prevented 

 by the spines from breaking away. 



The larvae of these insects are parasitic in the nests of tree-wasps and spiders, and have 

 the peculiarity of practically losing their limbs as they approach maturity; so that while at 

 first they are free and active, they afterwards become almost as helpless as those of many 

 beetles. One species is found in Southern Europe, the remainder being widely distributed 



over the hotter regions of the globe. 



Allied to the Mantis-flies are the curious SNAKE- 

 FLIES, or CAMEL-FLIES. In these insects the head is 

 very large, and is attached to the thorax, or central 

 division of the body, by a long and distinct neck, 

 which allows it great freedom of motion. The neck 

 is usually raised and the head bent down, giving to 

 the insect a remarkably snake-like appearance. 



These flies are predaceous in their habits, and the 

 four British species may be found on the banks of 

 ponds and small streams, where they can obtain 

 insect-victims in plenty. The larvae live beneath the 

 bark of trees, and wriggle about in a singularly 

 serpentine fashion. 



Equally curious in a different way are the 

 SCORPION-FLIES, in which the body is prolonged into 



a slender three-jointed process, the extremity of which, in the male, is furnished with 

 a pair of curved forceps. In spite of their somewhat formidable appearance these insects 

 are perfectly harmless. They are very plentiful almost everywhere, and may be found in 

 numbers on any sunny summer morning resting on the herbage on hedge-banks, or running 

 actively about on the leaves of low bushes. Like the Snake-flies, they are predaceous, feeding 



Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S., Regents Park. 



SCORPION-FLY. 

 Remarkable for the curious structure of the end of the body. 



