26 



Order IV. Odonata. The Dragon Plies. 



in 



The dragon flies or pond flies are familiar to all residents 

 the West Indies by their swift, darting flight, the 

 apparent delicacy of their structure, and often by their 

 bright and irridescent colours. They are insects with biting 

 mouth parts in both immature and adult stages of growth, 

 and they are predaceous on insects or other forms of animal 

 life, in both stages. The immature stages are passed in 

 standing, or slowly-running, water. Pond-flies (Fig. 20) 

 have two pairs of membranous, strongly nerved wings, of 

 which the second or hind pair is often longer than the first. 



Fig 1 . 20. Odonata. Pond-flies. 

 Both about natural size. (Original.} 



The origin of the name of the order, which is thought 

 to have come from the Greek word odous, a tooth, is not 

 well understood, 



