164 



INSECTS. 



several hundred eggs packed closely together in a single cluster; they stand 

 upright, being cylindrical in form, with rounded ends, and each terminating above 

 in a little white projection. The larvse hatch in a few weeks, and then find their 

 way into water, where they creep on the mud in search of the aquatic creatures on 

 which they feed. When full-grown, they are about an inch long, with a body 

 tapering slightly towards the head, and, more gradually, towards the long and 

 narrow tail. The head and three thoracic rings are horny, the rest of the body 

 having a softer integument. The larva, which has strong legs and can walk well, 

 breathes by means of tracheal gills, having the form of jointed appendages attached 

 in pairs to the sides of the first seven abdominal segments. When the time for 

 pupation arrives, generally about May or June, the larva leaves the water and 

 seeks a place to bury itself in the earth. Having excavated a little cell, it throws 

 off the larval skin and becomes a pupa, which has the legs and wings free from 





LIFE-HISTORY OF THE COMMON ANT-LION. 



a, Imago ; b, Larva ; c, Pupa (nat. size). 



the body, but enclosed in special sheaths. After a few weeks longer it is trans- 

 formed into the perfect insect. 



The lace-wing flies, ant-lions, mantis-flies, and some other families, have been 

 associated in a third group of Planipennia, to which the name Megaloptera is 

 given. In all, the wings are relatively large and closely reticulated ; the prothorax 

 being variable in size and form, and the joints of the tarsi not dilated. The mantis- 

 flies (Mantispidce) take their name from the shape of the fore-legs, and their 

 position near the front end of the long prothorax ; in which respect they resemble 

 the mantis or praying insect. One species is common in South Europe. The larvae 

 live parasitically in the nests of spiders and tree- wasps ; and while they are at first 

 free and active, they afterwards become almost legless, like those of certain beetles. 

 The allied family Nemopteridce is mainly characteristic of the countries around 



