'iUE DRAGON-FLY. 469 



Genus I. — Lihelhtla. The Dragon- Fly. 



Of this tribe of large infe£ls there are twenty-one dif- 

 ferent fpecics remarkable by the formidable apparatus 

 with which their mouths are armed. Their jaws are al- 

 ways more than two in number, and fiued for gratifying 

 that voracity by which tfhe libellulae are diftinguifhed. 

 The antennae are ihorter than the thorax ; the wings are 

 always extended, and, in fome, meafure fes'eral inches 

 from tip to tip. The male is dillinguiihed by a kind of 

 hooked forceps, by which the e:s:tremity of the abdomen 

 is terminated f. 



The dragon flies are unlverfally known, from thei? 

 large fize, and the frequency with which they every 

 where appear. The organs of generation are differently 

 Situated in the male and female of this tiibe : In the for- 

 mer, they are placed upon the under lide of that part of 

 the abdomen which lies between the inferior wings ; 

 while, in the latter, they are found at the tip or end of 

 the abdomen. The feafon of love in all infeft;, from the 

 brevity of their lives, is neceffarily fliort, but it is buiilj'" 

 employed. It is only the large ir>fecls, fuch as the libel- 

 lulae, that are frequently feen celebrating the rites oT 

 P^cnus; and among them the operation is performed with 

 a frequency and difpatch that feems perfeclly to corre- 



fpond 



t Linnsus Sjft.Nat, Ord. IV. Geja. i. 



