HEMEROBIIDAE 



471 



of Lepidoptera and Phytophagous Hymenoptera. The curious 

 form we figure (Fig. 316) has been hatched from eggs found by 

 Brauer on Finns ahies in Austria. The et^ss were of the stalked 

 kind we have described ; the young escaped from them in the 

 autumn, twelve days after deposition, but did not take any food 

 till the following spring. 



The ChTysopides are widely distributed over the earth's sur- 

 face. They form an important part of the fauna of the Hawaiian 

 islands. 



Sub-Fam. 7. Coniopterygides. Minute Insects with very few 

 transverse 7iervules in the loings ; having the body and ivings 

 covered hy a powdery efflorescence. 



These little Insects are the smallest of the Order l^europtera, 

 and have the appearance of winged Coccidae ; their claim to be 

 considered members of the Neuroptera was formerly doubted, 

 but their natural history is quite concordant with that of the 

 Hemerobiid groups, near which they are now always placed. Low 

 has made us acquainted 

 with the habits and 

 structure of an Austrian 

 species, Coniopteryx lutea 

 Wallg., but for which he 

 has proposed the new 

 generic name Aleurop- 

 teryx ; the larvae are 

 found on Finns mughns 

 at Vienna feeding on 

 Aspidiotns ahietis, which 

 they pierce with sucking- 

 spears, after the fashion 

 of the Hemerobiides ; 

 when full fed they spin 



a cocoon formed of a double layer of silk, in which meta- 

 morphosis takes place in a manner similar to that of other 

 Hemerobiidae. The better - known genus Coniopteryx differs 

 from Aleuropteryx in having the sucking - spears short and 

 nearly concealed by the front of the head, which is somewhat 

 prolonged. 



Fig. 317. Coniopteryx psociformis. Cambridge. 

 (After Curtis.) A, The insect with wings ex- 

 panded, magnified ; B, with wings closed, natural 

 size. 



