io 4 NEW ZEALAND ENTOMOLOGY. 



the various flies which constitute its food. Its curious larva 

 is represented at Fig. la, the drawing having been taken 

 from a singularly perfect exuvia, which I had the good 

 fortune to discover, clinging to the stem of a fuchsia-tree in 

 a swamp, the rent through which the perfect insect escaped 

 having almost closed up. In this state it no doubt feeds 

 on various aquatic animals, which it procures with a pre- 

 hensile instrument similar in structure to the " mask " of 

 British dragonfly larvae, but much larger. 



The female of this species may be at once recognized by 

 the absence of the two peculiar leaf-like appendages at the 

 anal extremity, from which the insect takes its name. Her 

 abdomen is also much stouter. My experience leads me 

 to believe either that she is very retired in her habits or 

 else that there are at least six males to one female. 



Closely allied, and much commoner than the above 

 insect, is Cordulia Smithii, found almost everywhere, its 

 rapid and continuous flight frequently taking it many miles 

 away from any water. The specimen figured is a male 

 (Plate XV., fig. 2), the female possessing a pair of slender 

 sickle-shaped hooks, attached to the end of her body. 

 She may occasionally be seen depositing her eggs in 

 stagnant streams, the abdomen being violently beaten 

 against the surface of the water during the operation. I 

 have not yet met with the larva, which probably lives 

 concealed in the mud. One specimen, taken near Lake 

 Wairarapa, is remarkable in possessing a cloudy brown 

 patch near the tip of each wing, but it is no doubt only a 

 variety of the ordinary insect. 



Family LlBELLULID^E. 

 Lestes colensonis (Plate XV., fig. 3, 3a larva). 

 Extremely abundant in all damp situations from Sep- 

 tember till May, being one of the last insects to disappear 

 in the autumn. The larva is found under stones, &c., in 



