INSECTS. 299 



capacity. This trunk might seem an instrument convenient enough 

 when inserted into a saucer of syrup, or applied to the broken surface 

 of an over-ripe blackberry, but we often see our sipper of sweets quite 

 as busy on a solid lump of sugar, which we shall find on close in- 

 spection growing { small by degrees' under his attack. How, without 

 grinders, does he accomplish the consumption of such crystal condi- 

 ment 1 A magnifier will solve the difficulty, and show how the fly 

 dissolves his rock, Hannibal fashion, by a diluent, a salivary fluid 

 passing down through the same pipe, which returns the sugar melted 

 into syrup."* 



The wings are of great variety in form and structure ; the beauty 

 of their colouring, the art with which they are connected to the body, 

 the curious manner in which some are folded up, the fine articulations 

 provided for this purpose, with the various ramifications by which the 

 nourishing fluids are circulated and the wing strengthened, all afford a 

 fund of rational investigation highly entertaining, and exhibiting, 

 when examined under the microscope, beautiful and wonderful design 

 in their formation. Take the Libdlulidce, dragon-flies, as an example, 

 whose wings, with their horny framework, are as elegant, delicate, and 

 as transparent as gauze, often ornamented with coloured spots, which, 

 at different inclinations of the sun's rays, show all the tints of the 

 rainbow. One species (Calepteryx virgo, fig, 133) may be seen sailing 

 for hours over a piece of water, all the while chasing, capturing, and 

 devouring the various insects that come athwart its course, or driving 

 away its competitors, without ever seeming tired or inclined to alight. 



In fine weather, the female dragon-flies deposit their eggs, which 

 they lay in water, making a strange noise, as though they were beating 

 the water ; and the eggs themselves look like a floating bunch of small 

 grapes. The larvae, when hatched, live in the water ; and it is scarcely 

 possible to fancy more strange-looking creatures. They are short, 

 comparatively thick, and their motions are heavy and clumsy. They 

 shed their skins and become pupa3 j still continuing to live in the 

 water. The pupa differs from the larva principally in having four 

 small scales on its sides, which conceal the future wings. While the 

 dragon-fly continues in its aquatic state, both as larva and pupa, it 

 devours all the insects it can catch ; but as it can only move slowly, 

 it is furnished with a very curious apparatus to its head, which it can 

 project at pleasure, and use as a trap. This apparatus consists of a 

 pair of very large, jointed, movable jaws, which the insect keeps 



* Episodes of Insect Life, a charming book, published by Keeve, 1851. 



