HUMOURS OF INSECT LIFE 



to me that the muscles controlling the action of the 

 wings are numerous and extremely powerful. This 

 conclusion is fully warranted by an examination of the 

 wings themselves, which in every part are tough and 

 firm, but where joining the thorax are especially 

 strengthened and stiffened by thick, tapering nervures 

 forming the framework of a shining, elastic gauze 

 stretched tightly between the dark brown veins. 



From the moment of its transformation into the 

 larval condition to the time of its death, the dragon- 

 fly is a pitiless destroyer of weaker insects. During 

 the larval and pupal stages of development it dwells 

 in a pond or in a stream. There the creature's appe- 

 tite is ravenous, and sometimes it becomes a cannibal, 

 devouring even its own kin. Yet, in its perfect state, 

 this swift-winged tyrant arouses admiration by the 

 grace of every movement. The very audacity with 

 which it approaches and dares to hover before me, as if 

 inquisitive concerning my trespass among its haunts, 

 causes me to regard it as an object of more than 

 ordinary interest. 



But there is a certain family of insects, similarly cruel, 

 for which I can cherish no kind of regard the robber- 

 flies. The members of this tribe most commonly 

 seen in the fields are comparatively sluggish in their 

 habits, and are of a dull grey colour, or banded with black 

 and yellow. On a wooden rail, not far from the dragon- 



iii 



