420 THE INSECT WORLD. 



fche grace of their movements, have won for them among the 

 French their common appellation of " Demoiselles." They are 

 always of largish size. Many are of bright and metallic colours, 

 which are not inferior in beauty to those of butterflies. Their 

 wings, of an extreme delicacy, always glossy and brilliant, present 

 varied tints ; sometimes they are completely transparent, and have 

 all the colours of the rainbow. Often, the colour of the males 

 differs from that of the females. They may be seen fluttering 

 about on the water during the whole summer, especially when the 

 sun is at its highest. They fly with extreme rapidity, skimming 

 over the water at intervals, and escaping easily when one wishes 

 to catch them. Nothing is prettier than a troop of dragon-flies 

 taking their sport on the side of a pond or on the banks of a 

 river, on a fine summer's day, when a burning sun causes their 

 wings to shine with most vivid colours. 



In the perfect state, as well as in that of the larva and the pupa, 

 the Libellulas are carnivorous. Their rapid flight makes them 

 expert hunters, and their enormous eyes embrace the whole 

 horizon. They seize, while on the wing, flies and butterflies, and 

 tear them to pieces immediately with their strong mandibles. 

 Sometimes, the ardour of the chase leading them on far from 

 the streams, they are met with in the fields. The female lays her 

 eggs in the water, from which emerge larvae which remind one 

 somewhat of the form of the insect, only their body is more com- 

 pact and their head flattened. The larvae and pupae inhabit the 

 bottom of ponds and streams, where, keeping out of sight in the 

 mud, they seek for insects, molluscs, small fish, &c. If any 

 prey passes within their reach, they dart forwards, like a spring, 

 a very singular arm, which represents the under lip. It is a sort 

 of animated mask, armed with strong jagged pincers and supported 

 by strong joints, the which, taken together, is equal to the length 

 of the body itself. This mask acts at the same time as a lip and an 

 arm ; it seizes the prey on its passage and conveys it to the mouth. 

 "When any aquatic insect approaches them at a time when 

 they are in a humour for eating," says Charles de Greer, " they 

 shoot the mask forward very suddenly and like a flash of light- 

 ning, and seize the insect between their two pincers ; then, draw- 

 ing back the mask, they bring the prey up to their teeth, and 



