340 THE GREAT DRAGON-FLY. 



exclusion of the insect the wings are weak and 

 tender, and folded into a very narrow compass. 

 During their unfolding, and till they become per- 

 fectly dry, it continues almost motionless ; but they 

 are no sooner completed than the little animal com- 

 mences an inhabitant of the air, and would now be 

 as effectually destroyed by continual submersion 

 under water, as the larva would before have been 

 by exposure to the air *. 



In their complete state, the Dragon-flies, as I 

 have already remarked, feed on the smaller insects ; 

 and they are also remarkable for the vigour and ce- 

 lerity of their flight. Mr. Revett Sheppard informed 

 me that, in the summer of 1801, he sate for some 

 time by the side of a pond, to observe a large Dragon- 

 fly as it was hawking backwards and forwards in 

 search of prey, when suddenly a large white But- 

 terfly, Papilio Brassier, flew past. The Dragon-fly in- 

 stantly attacked and caught it in the air, then settled 

 on a twig, close at hand, to eat it at leisure. It bit 

 off all the wings, and then, in less than a minute, 

 devoured the whole body. 



These insects, which are very common in England, 

 delight in sunshine, and are seldom to be seen abroad 

 in cloudy weather, hiding themselves, during the 

 absence of the sun, under the leaves and branches 

 of trees. 



* Phil. Tian. vol. xlvJ. p. 323.—— Ska-iv's Nat, Mis. vol. ra. 

 tab. 459. 



