100 NEUROPTERA. 



common in Switzerland and Southern Europe, where they may be 

 seen flying among fir-trees in the day-time. The long clubbed 

 antennae and brightly-coloured wings actually led Scopeli, a cele- 

 brated entomologist of the last century, to describe one of the 

 species as a butterfly, under the name of Papilio Macaronius. 



The Nemopterince form another small group, chiefly found in the 

 countries bordering on the Mediterranean, and in Western Asia. 

 Their bodies are short, their antennae slender, and of moderate 

 length, and their fore wings are broad. Their hind wings, how- 

 ever, are very long and narrow, and frequently more or less dilated 

 towards the tip, giving the insect, when held vertically, very much 

 the appearance of being supported on stilts. The Spanish Nemo- 

 ptera Lusitanica, Kamb., is yellow, with brown markings, and expands 

 over two inches ; the hind wings being almost as long. There is 

 another section of the genus with narrower and transparent wings. 



The Chrysopince have long slender antennae, delicate transparent, 

 reticulated wings, and beautiful golden eyes; their bodies are 

 generally of a green colour. Several species of the genus Chrysopa, 

 Leach, are very common in England. They are common in woods 

 and gardens, and are easily caught, as they have a weak flight ; but 

 they exhale a peculiarly unpleasant odour, which has been com- 

 pared to that of human ordure. They generally expand about 

 an inch. Their eggs have a peculiar appearance, being attached 

 to the surface of a leaf by a long slender stalk. The larvae live on 

 Aphides, and destroy great numbers, seizing them with their strong 

 mandibles, and speedily sucking out the liquid contents of their 

 bodies. 



The genus Hemerolius, Linn., the type of the sub-family Hemero- 

 biince, includes a few brown or yellowish species, rarely expanding 

 more than three-quarters of an inch ; their antennae are moniliform, 

 and their larvae feed on Aphides, and clothe themselves with the 

 empty skins of their prey. Osmylus Fulvicephalus, Scop., the largest 

 of the British Planipennia, has broad, transparent wings, the fore 

 wings slightly pointed, and ornamented with a few brown spots ; 

 it measures nearly two inches in expanse, and frequents the neigh- 

 bourhood of streams, the larva being partly aquatic in its habits. 

 Drepanopteryx Phalcenoides, Linn., a great rarity in Britain, resembles 

 a small brown moth, and measures nearly an inch and a half across 

 the wings. 



The genus Coniopteryx, Hal., typical of the sub-family Conio- 

 pterygince, includes a few small white species, seldom much more 



