37 
ishna cyanea is one of the commonest of 
the larger dragonflies. It is brown, with yellow 
markings on the thorax, and blue or yellow spots 
on the abdomen. The wings are transparent. 
Libellula depressa is another large species, but 
of a different shape to the last. The thorax is brown, 
and the abdomen, which is short, broad and flat, is 
blue in the male and yellow in the female. The 
wings are transparent, with the base brown. 
Family XI. Psocide. These little insects are 
exclusively found on land. The wings are very long, 
with only a few veins, and 
slope over the oval body. 
Psocus lineatus has 
long black antenne, and 
a yellow body, with black 
rings on the abdomen. It 
is found on tree-trunks and 
planks. 
Family XII. Termitide. The Termites, like 
the ants, live in large communities in nests. 


They | 
She is wingless, and is said to lay 80,000 eggs ina 
day. Besides the ordinary working larve, there is 
a small number of another form, with larger heads 
and stronger jaws. They are called soldiers, for they 
do not work, but defend the nest. The termites’ nest 
contains many rooms for eggs and provisions, be- 
sides galleries, bridges &c. When the Termites find 
their way to anything which they can eat, they de- 
stroy it in an amazingly short time, and will destroy 
whole chestsful of clothes, books &c. in a few hours. 
In the year 1814 they undermined the palace of the 
governor of Calcutta to such an extent that it fell 
in; for they destroy all woodwork from the inside. 
These animals, destructive as they are, are useful 
in hot countries, where all refuse begins to putrefy 
immediately; for this they destroy. Their numbers 
must be reckoned by millions. As soon as all the 
larvae and pupz have been transformed into winged 
insects, they fly up into the air in a swarm, and 
drop down in other places. At these times great 
numbers of animals and birds feed upon them, and 
they are frequently used even for human food. 





























































































































ay iif; jj 

Libellula depressa and pupa. 
may be divided into the following classes: 1) winged 
males and females, with a round head and moderately 
long abdomen; 2) the fertilised female, with an 
enormously swollen abdomen, which lays eggs by 
the hundred thousand; 3) wingless larvae, which per- 
form the work of the nest; 4) wingless and eyeless 
soldiers, with strong pointed jaws. The males and 
females soon cast their wings. 
The Termites inhabit warm countries, where 
they build large conical and pyramidal nests com- 
posed of clay and fragments of wood, which are 
often 15 or 20 yards in circumference, and 3 or 
4 yards high. They are so strong, that a man can 
stand upon them without their yielding; and the 
most violent storms do not injure them. In the in- 
terior of the nest are two large chambers, containing 
a female and several males. When the female is 
ready to lay eggs, she attains an immense size. 














































Eshna cyanea and pupa, 
Figs. q., r. We have figured the sexes of Termes 
angustatus, a native of South Africa; and also Zermes 
bellicosus (which inhabits West Africa) with its nest 
The following families are aberrant, and are* 
sometimes treated as separate Orders. Except the 
first, they are all wingless insects, which undergo 
no proper metamorphoses. 
Family XIII. Thripidae. These insects are 
sometimes placed with the Orthoptera, or in an Order 
by themselves called Zhysanxoptera. The body is 
small and narrow, the wings are narrow, and have 
long fringes, the legs are short, and the feet are 
very imperfectly developed. They live on leaves 
and flowers, feeding on the upper cuticle, and leap 
by bending the abdomen. 
The species figured, Zhrips vulgatissima, is 
dark brown with white wings. It lives in the 
calyces of garden-flowers. (See next page.) 
