232 Nerve-winged Insects; Scorpion-flies; Caddis-flies 



Claws very stout, swollen ACANTHACLISIS. 



Claws slender at base, not swollen. 



Wings with a black band at tip or eye-like spots DENDROLEON. 



Wings not as above. 



Tibia with no spurs (short but conspicuous spines) MARACANDA. 



Tibia with spurs. 



Wings with a single row of costal areoles (small cells) MYRMELEON. 



Wings with a double row of costal areoles BRACHYNEMURUS. 



The subfamily Ascalaphinae includes but three genera and six species, 

 the larvae of which do not dig pits (as far as known) , but hide under stones 

 sometimes with the body partially covered with sand, or even nearly buried 

 in it, and wait for prey to come within reach of their long, sickle-like jaws. 

 The adults of this subfamily can be readily recognized by their long antennae, 

 knobbed at the tip, like the antennae of butterflies. The habits and life- 

 history of Ulula hyalina, an Ascalaphid found in the southern states, have 

 recently been studied by McClendon in Texas. The adult fly when at 

 rest clings, motionless, to some small branch or stalk, head down with wings 

 and antennae closely applied to the branch, and abdomen erected and often 

 bent so as to resemble a short brown twig or dried branch (Fig. 322). The 



FIG. 322. FIG. 323. 



FIG. 322. An Ascalaphid, Ulula hyalina, male. (After McClendon; natural size.) 

 FIG. 323. Larva of Ulula hyalina. (After McClendon; natural size, inch.) 



eggs are arranged in two rows along a stalk and fenced in below by little 

 rod-like bodies called repagula, placed in circles around the stalk. The 

 eggs hatch in nine or ten days, and the larvae (Fig. 323) crawl down, after a 

 day of resting, and hide under stones or in slight depressions. The body 

 is covered with sand and the jaws open widely. When a small insect crawls 

 within reach the jaws snap together, pinioning the victim on the curved 

 points. The jaws are grooved along the inner or lower side and the maxillae 

 fit into these grooves so as to form a pair of ducts or channels through which 

 the blood is sucked into the mouth. The larva often changes its hiding-place 



