NEUROPTEROUS OSECTS. 



THE insects of the Linnean order Neuroptera have four membrana- 

 oeous, transparent, naked wings, in which the membranes cross each 

 other so as to appear like net-work. The tail has no sting, but, in 

 the males of many individuals, is furnished with appendices like 

 pincers. 



OF THE LIBELLUL^E, OR DRAGON-FLIES. 



The mouth of the Dragon-fly is armed with jaws, generally more 

 than two in number. The antennae are very thin, of equal thickness 

 throughout, and shorter than the thorax. The wings are expanded, 

 and the tail of the male insect is furnished with a forked process. 



Few of the insect tribes are more beautiful than these. Their colors 

 are various and brilliant : we observe in them green, blue, crimson, 

 scarlet, and white ; and even in some individuals, most, if not all, of 

 these colors are blended. In addition to the beauty of their colors, 

 the brilliancy of their eyes, and the delicate texture and wide expan- 

 sion of their wings, are highly deserving of notice and admiration. 



The parent insects deposit their eggs on tji'e surface of the water. 

 Thence they sink to the bottom, where, in du y e time, they are hatched. 

 The larvae, which proceed from these eggs', are active inhabitants of 

 the water ; and, furnished with forcipajtSd jaws, they prey with the 

 most rapacious ferocity on aquatic ms'ects. The chrysalis resembles 

 the larvae in every respect, except yd having the rudiments of wings. 



In both these primary states the insects respire water, by receiving 

 and ejecting it at an aperture at the termination of their bodies. They 

 are occasionally observed to throw water with such force, that the 

 stream is perceptible to the distance of two or three inches from their 

 bodies. But though the insect thus respires the water, air seems to 

 be not the less necessary to its existence : for, like other insects, th& 

 whole interior part of its body is amply furnished with large and 

 eonvuluted breathing-pipes ; and, externally, there are several small 

 openings destined for the introduction of air. 



OF THE EPHEMERA, OR DAY-FLIES. 



THE mouth of the Ephemera has no jnws, but is furnished with four 

 rery short thread-shaped feelers. The antennse are short and thread 



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