140 



NEUROPTERA. 



active and voracious, the tyrants of the pool, devour- 

 ing with ferocity other insects, tad- 

 poles, small newts, and even fishes. 

 These predatory habits are continued 

 in the perfect insect, whose sangui- 

 nary propensities are no less cor- 

 rectly expressed by our term Dragon- 

 fly, than its elegance and grace by the 

 French appellation Demoiselle. It 

 pursues gnats and flies in the air, 

 eating them on the wing. It has 

 been seen to catch butterflies, and 

 Mr. Gosse, to whose elegant pen we 

 are indebted for much of the above 

 graphic account of their history, 

 believes that they sometimes pounce 



upon the fry of fishes when swimming at the surface. 

 The May Flies (Ephemera)*. These insects have re- 



FlG. 94. PUPA OF DRAGON 

 FLY. 



FlG. 95. MAT-FLIES IN SUNSET DAXCE. 



s, ephemeros, living but a day. 



