612 



NEUROPTERA. 



is very long and slender, and the wings are long, narrow and 

 densely veined. The larva (Fig. 603) bears a close resemblance 

 to that oi" Chrysopa. It makes a pitfull in fine sand at the bot- 

 tom of which it hides, leaving only the tips of its mandibles in 



sight, which are extended 

 and ready to seize an}- 

 insect which ma}- fall 

 into them. The pupa re- 

 tains the large mandibles 

 and uses them in cutting 

 Fig. 601. j^g ^rc^y out of its cocoon. 



Myrmeleon obsoktus Say (Fig. 604) is not rare in the Avarmer 

 parts of the country, and has been found at Salem, Mass., by 

 Dr. E. P. Colby. M. abdominalis Say has also been found as 



far north as Milton, Mass., bj' 

 Mr. J. Schofield. Mr. R. Tri- 

 men, speaking of the Entomo- 

 Fig. 602. logy of Natal, South Africa 



(Entomological Monthly Magazine), notes the habits 

 of a "huge M^a-meleon, of the genus Palpa7'es, the 

 spotted and variegated aspect of whose wings will 

 cause you to mistake them for moths. . . . These 

 great insects are verj^ unlike Libellulidoi in their 

 flight, flapping wildly and irregularly about, as if their 

 muscular apparatus were too weak to wield their stretch of 

 wings. In repose the wings are folded above each other so as 

 to form an acute-angled roof above the abdomen. They diff"er 

 in this respect from the long-horned Ascalaphi, which deflect 



the wings on either side, 

 and hold the abdomen 

 erect or nearl}'" so." 



Ascalaphus with its 

 long flliform knobbed 

 antennae, and broad 

 wings and gay colors is 

 the butterfly among Neu- 

 roptera. It flies in the heat of the day, seeking the hottest 

 places and is abundant in the deserts of the East. The bodj- 

 and feet are short and the large wings are less densely veined 



