424 NATURAL HISTORY OF HAWAII. 



order should be, but in the ease of the Hawaiian fauna the order, as treated 

 l)y Dr. Perkins, has been made to include insects familiarly known as lace- 

 winged tlies or hemerobians.^"^' the dragon-tly,!!*^' the book-lice ^^^ and the 

 white ants or termites.^ ^- 



To this super-order have been referred at least 116 species of insects. 

 About one-half of this number is made up by the lace-Avinged tlies. They are 

 slender-bodied, delicate insects of small size, the largest measuring scarcely 

 more than an inch in length. They all have dainty membranous wings of 

 various colors as gray, brown, yellowish-brown, hyaline, iridescent, and often 

 ])ale green, the last color being the one most liable to attract attention. 



The lace-winged flies are forest dwellers and nocturnal in habit. The 

 common lace-winged Hy ^'•' is quite frequently met with in gardens and shady 

 localities, and may be easily captured. 



Of the dragon-fiies,^!-^ at least one genus, ^^-^ with twenty-six endemic 

 species, may be regarded as of very long standing in the islands. The mem- 

 bers of this genus are all fond of the mountain forests and seldom occur at 

 lower levels. They have very slender bodies, with both pairs of wings shaped 

 nearly alike. So extraordinarily fragile, delicate and dainty are their wings 

 that they are often called Hawaiian damsel flies. Their gentle and airy man- 

 ner as they flit from leaf to leaf make them among the most attractive of the 

 Hawaiian forest insects. There are from seven to ten species on each island, 

 but at least two of them^^'^ occur throughout the group. As a nuitter of fact, 

 the species of the genus are related to one another in such a way as to indicate 

 that they all have originated from a single ancestral species that doubtless came 

 to Hawaii in ver\- remote times. 



The nymphs of some if not all of the species belonging to this genus 

 develop in the cups formed at the base of certain leaves in the forest, and can 

 live with a very scant supply of water. Living specimens conflned in collect- 

 ing bottles continue active for several hours. 



They are ac^uatic and predaceous in hal)it in every case, and are sure to 

 attract attention with their rapid darting movements, their strong legs and 

 jaws, and conspicuous eyes. The adults often flock to mountain pools during 

 dry seasons, as they prefer moist localities. As a result, their dead bodies are 

 often seen floating on the surface of the water. 



Of the three other genera of ()do)iafa found in Hawaii, the l)ig ijlue dragon- 

 fly ^^^ is the most conspicuous and abundant through the allied species; the 

 strenuous dragon-fly ^^^^ is common enough, but so strenuous indeed that it is 

 difficult to capture specimens. The yellow dragon-fly i^-' is the common species 

 seen in the open country everywhere, but nota])ly in the streets and gardens of 

 Honolulu. At the proper season as nuuiy as twenty may be seen at one time 

 hoveling over a s(juare rod of lawn. 



Another si)ecies of piiiau.i-'" as all dragon-flies are called by the Hawaiiaus, 



io« IJemernbiidw. ^^'^ Odoniita. ^^^ Psocida'. '^^- T<>niiitid<f. ^^'-^ Cliri/nopa microphi/a. 

 '^''■^ Odoudta. ^^^ Affrinii. "" J,fn'to*i xantho}iielas and A. ixicifiriiin . ^^' Anax jwiius. 

 ^^^ Anax strenuus. ^^^ Pantala jiavescvns. ^-^ Tramea lacerata. 



