574 INSECTA. 



formation ; the abdomen is not furnished with a sting, and is but seklom provided with an 

 ovipositor. 



They have for the most part the antennse hke a thread, and composed of a great number of 

 joints ; two or three ocelli ; the thorax is formed of the three segments intimately soldered 

 into one mass, distinct from the abdomen, and supporting the six feet ; the first of these seg- 

 ments is generally very short, and hke a collar. The number of the joints in the tarsi is 

 variable ; the body is generally elongate, with the integuments soft, or but slightly scaly ; the 

 abdomen is always sessile. Many of these insects are carnivorous in their first and 

 last states. 



Some undergo only a demi-metamorphosis, the others are subject to a complete one ; but 

 the larvae have constantly six feet with hooks, of which they commonly make use in searching 

 after their food. 



I divide this order into three families, which, in their progressive arrangement, exhibit the 

 following natural relations : — 1st. Carnivorous insects und»i'going a demi-metamorphosis, with 

 aquatic larvae. 2nd. Carnivorous insects undergoing a complete metamorphosis, with terres- 

 trial or aquatic larvae. 3rd. Carnivorous, or omnivorous and terrestrial insects, undergoing a 

 demi-metamorphosis. 4th. Herbivorous insects undergoing a complete metamorphosis, with 

 aquatic larvae, constructing for themselves portable cases. We finish with such as have the 

 wings less net-like, and which resemble Phalaenae, or Moths. 



THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE NEUROPTERA,— 



The Subulicones, Latr., — 

 Is composed of the order Odonata of Fabricius, and of his genus Ephemera. The antennae are in the 

 foim of an awl, scarcely longer than the head, 7-jointed at the most, the last being in the form of a 

 seta. The mandibles and maxillae are entirely covered by the labrum and labium, or by the anterio>" 

 and advanced extremity of the head. The wings are always veiy much reticulated, extended some- 

 times horizontally and sometimes elevated perpendicularly ; the posterior are as large as the anterior, 

 or sometimes smaller, and even obsolete. In all, the ordinary eyes are large and very prominent, and 

 they have two or three ocelli situated between the preceding. They pass the first two stages of their 

 existence in the water, where they feed upon Uving prey. 



The larvae and pupae, of which the form approaches that of the perfect insect, respire by means of 

 peculiar organs, situated upon the sides of the abdomen, or at its extremity. They creep out of the 

 water in order to undergo their final transformation. 



Some of them have the mandibles and maxillae corneous, very strong, and covered by the two lips ; 

 the tarsi are 3-jointed ; the wings of equal size, and the posterior extremity of the body terminated 

 simply by hooks, or leaf-Uke appendages. They form the order Odonata, Fabricius ; or the genus 



LiBELLULA, Linnaeus, [Dragon-flies or Adder-bolts]. 

 The slender form of the body, their varied colours, their large gauze-like wings, the rapidity of flight 

 with which they pursue other insects upon which they feed, easily distinguish these Neuropterous 

 insects. They have a large and rounded head, or in the form of a broad triangle, two very large lateral 

 eyes — (see M. Cuvier's memoir on their composition in the Mem. de la Soc. d'Hist. Nat. de Paris) — 

 tliree ocelli, situated upon the vertex ; two antennae, inserted upon the forehead behind a vesicular 

 elevation, and composed, in the greater number, of five or six joints, or three at least, of which the 

 last is compound, and becomes gradually slender like a style ; the upper hp is semicircular ; the two 

 mandibles scaly, very strong, and toothed ; the maxillae are terminated by a piece of the same consist- 

 ence, toothed, spined, and ciliated on the inside with a palpus composed of a single joint appUed upon 

 it dorsally, resembling the galea of the Orthoptera ; the under lip is large, and composed of three leaves ; 

 the lateral pair, being the labial palpi, greatly dilated ; a kind of epiglottis, or elongated vesicular 

 tongue, in the interior of the mouth ; the thorax thick and rounded ; the abdomen very long, and 

 flattened or cylindric, terminated in the males by two lamellar appendages, of which the figure varies 



