118 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



S. scoticum, Don. — Like the last species, this one was also 

 obtained in the marsh in September, but it was less plentiful, 

 and the female was scarce. 



It was the habit of the male to hover just over the tops of 

 the reeds, and to settle very seldom, making its capture a very 

 difficult matter, as it was always remarkably shy. 



As alluded to above, I took a male of this species united 

 per. coll. with a female S. flaveolum, and on another occasion I 

 captured a male S. sanguineum united per. coll. with a female 

 S. scoticum. 



Libellula depressa, Linn. — This insect appeared in the brick- 

 yard only, and in June it was sometimes plentiful there. On 

 May 23rd I took an immature female, and on July 21st a very 

 much worn female fell to my net. 



One hot day in June I saw a male and female flying on 

 intimate terms, and in trying to catch them I knocked the 

 female into the water. Several males immediately came and 

 hovered over her, and I could have taken quite a number if I had 

 wished. This would perhaps be a good method of catching males 

 of Anax imperator or of any other species difficult to net. 



L. quadrimaculata, Linn. — A single male of this dragonfly 

 turned up at the pond adjoining the Lahn on July 8th. I did 

 not observe the species again. 



The specimen in question has very little saffron suffusion on 

 the wings, and there is no brown suffusion at their extremities 

 at all. At the nodal points the black cloud is but slightly 

 marked. This is curious, considering that South of England 

 specimens as a rule have more suffusion on the wings than those 

 from the north. 



Orthetrum cancellatum, Linn. — This was certainly an abun- 

 dant dragonfly. 



On June 10th, as I was walking along the bank of the pond 

 adjoining the Lahn, scores of immature females flew out of the 

 long grass when they were disturbed. But their chance of 

 escaping with their lives was small, for they were slow of flight, 

 and many of those which did not enter the collector's net made 

 dainty morsels for the flocks of sparrows which apparently 

 awaited them at the top of the bank. 



When mature the habits of this dragonfly are very different. 

 To see a mature male, fully invested with his blue colour, and 

 flying at full speed over the surface of the water, is indeed a 

 wonderful sight ; suddenly the insect sweeps round, and the 

 next moment is quietly resting on a piece of bare ground on the 

 bank; here he remains with wings bent over. Now is the 

 collector's only chance; he must approach carefully from be- 

 hind, but not too slowly, or the dragonfly darts off, only to settle 

 some distance further on, or once more to embark on its reckless 

 flight over the water. 



