BRITISH INSECTS 



see them hovering, skimming, somersaulting, or planing 

 down is quite a delightful occupation, as also to watch 

 them in nuptial flight around the margins, or over the 

 surface of a favourite pond. Both in the larval and 

 adult states a carnivorous diet is partaken of, and men- 

 tion should also be made of the large goggle eyes made 

 up of a large number of separate lenses or facets, and of 

 the beautiful colours some of the species display. Some 

 have thick bodies, others very slim. In some species 

 both pairs of wings are more or less similar, in others the 

 wings are alike. In the former, the hind wings are 

 enlarged near the base, in the latter both pairs are equally 

 narrowed at the base. The delicacy of the wings is 

 not the least remarkable feature, and certainly not the 

 least attractive. 



There are over forty British species, and of these 

 the more familiar that may be mentioned are the fol- 

 lowing : — 



Libellula depressa, Anax imperafor, JE^chna xyanea, 

 Calopteryx virgo, Pyrrhosoma ?iy?nphula, Enallagma 

 cyathigerum. 



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