THE MASTERY OF THE AIR 235 



It is useful for us to know that these insects 

 cannot fly far, for then we can protect ourselves 

 to a great extent by taking care that their 

 breeding-places stagnant water in the case 

 of the mosquito, manure- and refuse-heaps 

 in the case of the house-fly are not in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of our dwelling- 

 houses. 



But many other insects have great powers 

 of flight. The beautiful, big, rainbow-coloured 

 or sapphire-blue dragon-flies, which are so con- 

 spicuous on our moors in sunny weather, fly 

 all day, and sometimes cover two or three miles. 

 They catch their prey of smaller insects on the 

 wing, and can suck the juices from them with- 

 out ceasing to fly. Their legs have become so 

 weak that they are of no use at all for walking, 

 but are used for perching, and for catching and 

 holding the prey. The bees, too, as we may 

 see for ourselves, are capable of strong and 

 rapid flight, and it has been proved that their 

 daily business of honey-getting may lead them 

 several miles from the hive. 



The power of flight in insects sometimes 

 rises to a very high pitch. A wasp has been 

 known to fly tail-foremost for a quarter of an 

 hour in front of a bicycle. Dragon-flies, which 



