CLASS I. INSECTA: ORDER 7. NEUROPTERA. 



587 



the pond or stream in which they live, and these burrows have two openings, so that if the insect 

 enters by one it can pass out by tlie other without the necessity of turning round in its narrow 

 domicile. On arriving at maturity the pupaj come out of the water, when the perfect insect 

 emerges from its case and takes to flight. It is still, however, inclosed in a very delicate pellicle, 

 to get rid of which it soon attaches itself by its claws to any object that may be at hand, and 

 after a few struggles le;.ve-i this encumbrance behind it, and flies away. After this last change 

 the insect exhibits its brightest colors, and the tails grow to twice their previous length. The 

 emerging of these insects from the water appears always to take place in the evening, and as 

 the whole of the Ephemeridte in a river appear to arrive at maturity at the same pei'iod, they 

 generally make their appearance in such countless swarms, for two or three evenings, that the 

 effect produced by one species with white wings has been compared to a heavy fall of snow. By 

 the next morning the majority of these insects are found lying dead upon the shore in heaps. 

 The occurrence of these swarms of May-flies has been observed in diff"erent parts of Europe, in 

 Holland, France, and Switzerland ; and it appears that the species found in each of these localities 

 is distinct from the rest. In Switzerland, indeed, the swarms of two species are on record, one 

 inhabiting the Lake of Geneva, and the other the Rhine, near Basle. The common European 

 species, Ephemera vulgata, also occurs in profusion for a few days in the rivers frequented by 

 it, but not by any means to the same extent as the species just referred to. This and several 

 other species of the family are favorite baits for trout. We have several species in this country, 

 May-Flies being their common name. 



THE PSOCIDiE. 



This is a family of very minute insects, one species of which, the Atropos pulsatorius, is called 

 Death- Watch, on account of its producing a sound like the ticking of a watch. 



WHITE ANTS. 



THE TERMITIDiE. 

 These animals, often called White Ants, live in vast communities, principally in the hotter 

 regions of the earth, where they do incredible damage by devouring almost every thing that 



