362 THE NATURAL HISTORY 



The larva of another very common species of Lace- 

 winged fly, belonging to the next family (Sialis 

 lutaria), unlike the Aphis Lion, is aquatic, and differs 

 from the other larvae of this order in its mode of 

 progression through the water. In addition to the 

 normal six legs for walking, it possesses a series of 

 fine articulated processes on each side of the abdomen, 

 by means of which it can swim also, and its com- 

 paratively powerful toothed mandibles afford good 

 presumptive evidence of its predacious habits. When 

 about to assume the pupaform, it crawls out of the 

 water and burrows in the soil, where it undergoes 

 its final metamorphoses. It reappears as a dingy* 

 brown fly, somewhat sluggish in its habits, and may 

 be found on the flags and rushes, or other aquatic 

 plants at the edge of the water, here too, in conspicuous 

 patches, it deposits its numerous eggs. These, like 

 the eggs of a great many other insects, are very pretty 

 objects, they resemble tiny cylindrical short-necked 

 upright vases, and are closely ranged side by side in 

 uniform parallel lines. 



We now come to the Scorpion Fly (Panorpa com- 

 munis}, the type of another family in this order, and 

 the only species we have met with. This we have 

 found in many localities among the wild growths by 

 the side of hedgerows, and particularly on the blossoms 

 of umbelliferous plants, which it frequents for the pur- 

 pose of preying on other insects generally to be found 

 there. The perfect insect is not quite an inch in length, 

 with four equal spotted wings and a long rostrum 

 directed downwards, which is armed at its tip with 

 small but sufficiently serviceable toothed mandibles. 

 Its abdomen is elongated, and at its extremity wields 

 an apparatus, which certainly has such a general 

 resemblance to the last joint of the tail in the true 

 scorpion, that very probably it has seldom been 

 captured by the inexperienced collector without 

 cautious hesitation. This, however, is needless, as 

 the suspicious looking organ, which on close inspection 



