THE I mm \ li RE STATE OF THE ODONATA. 11 



The ventral Bide of the abdomen rather Hat. with two incurved Butures, end- 

 ing in the apical inner angle of ninth segment ; the suture-, slightlj incurved 

 as far as the eighth segment; straight on the eighth and ninth, on which 

 the middle par! is slightly narrower, the lateral parts about half the breadth 

 of the central cue; on the lateral part til' the sixth is a transverse opening 

 for the ventral bag; on the following segment a similar fold perhaps exists; 

 abdominal stigmata very small ; end of ninth ventral segment verj hairy; 

 genitals not very plainly marked. 



Legs as far apart at base as in Macromia ; strong, flattened, long, hind 

 femur reaching the ninth segment ; tibia about same length ; tarsus a little 

 shorter than tibia; first joint very short, the two others long, of equal 

 length; claws shorter than the last joint of tarsus, slightly incurved ; femur 

 with three black bands. 



These nyniphae differ from Macromia only in the shape of the mask, which 

 is not spoon-shaped, but comb-like, the palpus not meeting. All other dif- 

 ferences are slight and unimportant. Some species related to Macromia is 

 suggested, and principally the large species of the genus Epophthalmia, 

 of which E. elegans is found in China. But it must he remembered that 

 the wing covers show very plainly that the wings of the imago must he 

 profusely spotted with black. Up to the present time no such species is 

 known. 



I had at first supposed this nympha might belong to Chlorogoruphns. an 

 aberrant genus near Cordulegaster. The antenna, the three jointed tarsi, 

 and the spotted wings would suggest such a reference, but the extraordinary 

 shape of the mask is as foreign to Gomphina as to Cordulina. The general 

 appearance of the nympha, the shape of the bod}-, the long legs with three 

 black bands, the head with the frontal horn, is much like Macromia. I 

 do not believe that the nympha belongs to the Gomphina, but probably to 

 Epophthalmia. 



MACROMIA. (Raised.) 



Kambur, Near., p. 137. — 1842. 



De Selys, Synops. Cordulines, II. Addit., p. 31. — 1878. 



The nymphae of the genus Macromia, as accepted by De Selys in his last 

 publication and divided into five subgenera, are of a uniform and peculiar 

 character. The anterior part of the head just in front of the antennae is 



