SCIENCE-GOSSIP 



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19th, and I met with it in the New Forest, at the 

 Black Pond, and at the Hut Pond, near Wisley. 

 A gorgeous insect is the living male in its coat of 

 crimson, and a fine show it would make in the 

 cabinet were it not that after death its colours 

 disappear almost as suddenly as does the insect 

 itself when you approach it with a net. 



Sympetrum scoticum, Don., is a common insect 

 round the two Surrey ponds mentioned above, and 

 was on the wing last season from about July 25th 

 till August 19th. A very different appearance has 

 the earlier yellow-backed female from the sombre 

 male, and they might easily be taken for separate 

 species. Being slow and weak of flight then- 

 capture is very easy. The males preserve well, and 

 the females fairly so. 



Anax formosus, Linn. (Imperial dragon-fly). 

 This is the largest of British dragon-flies. The 

 male is of a clear opaque cerulean blue, the female 

 of an equally beautiful emerald green. This 

 species fell to my lot this season for the first 

 time at the Black Pond, though I made a long but 

 futile attempt to secure what I believe was a 

 female on Whit-Monday of 1893. Half-a-dozen 

 specimens were taken in all from July 25th to 

 August 10th, but their value was enhanced by the 

 excitement of the chase and the great difficulty of 

 the capture, about two hours on an average of 

 patient waiting being the price of each specimen 

 taken. The fact that they only fly when the sun 

 is shining, and then usually keep well out over the 

 pond swinging backwards and forwards along the 

 edge of the reed-beds well out of reach of the net, 

 add to the difficulties of the hunter and to the value 

 of his captures. Unfortunately the colours, so 

 strikingly beautiful in the living insects, are 

 extremely fugitive, perhaps more so than in any 

 species except the little blue Agrion. 



Brachytvon pratense, Mull. This early dragon- 

 fly I did not meet with in the perfect form last 

 season. I, however, bred two specimens (as related 

 in Science-Gossip last month), on May 19th and 

 24th, from larva-nymphs taken from the Basing- 

 stoke Canal, near Byfleet, on March 23rd. This 

 insect keeps its colours fairly well. 



JEschna mixta, Latr. Of this species I took but 

 one specimen, which was flying with JE. juncea at 

 the Black Pond, on September 10th. Others may 

 have been present, though I do not think there 

 were many ; but they can with difficulty be dis- 

 tinguished from JE. juncea, except by their smaller 

 size. This insect when eviscerated retained its 

 colours fairly well, and is on that account, as well 

 as its scarcity, an acquisition to the cabinet. 



JEschna juncea, Linn. From August 28th till 

 September 19th, at least at the Black Pond, near 

 Esher, and the Hut Pond, at Wisley, JE. juncea 

 was fairly plentiful last season, although it is 

 usually considered a northern insect, replacing 



Jl. cyanca, which is more southern in its range. 

 Both were, however, secured on the same day, 

 August 31st, at the Black Pond. On the wing 

 both dragon-flies bear a close resemblance to one 

 another, but at clo'se quarters JE. juncea is found to 

 be much the handsomer insect, its markings being far 

 more decided than those of its congener, from which 

 it may be distinguished by the spot on segment 9 

 being divided into two by a black mid-dorsal line, 

 and by the costa of the wings being yellow, instead 

 of black. I have found that specimens keep their 

 colour fairly well. 



JEschna cyanea, Mull. It is by chance, no 

 doubt, that I did not, last season, notice many 

 specimens of JE. cyanea, Those I did see, however, 

 were in widely distributed localities. Like JE. juncea, 

 it appears late in the season, my earliest specimen 

 being taken at Chertsey, on July 15th, and my last 

 received on September 18th, both being females. 

 This dragon-fly is often, possibly oftenest, seen far 

 away from water, hawking up and down a country 

 lane, where, though strong of flight, on account of 

 its persistently clinging to a particular spot, it is 

 easily taken by a patient pursuer. As far as my 

 experience goes, the males preserve but poorly, 

 while the females keep their colours very well 

 indeed. 



JEschna grandis, Linn. This is no doubt the 

 commonest of the larger dragon-flies. I made its 

 acquaintance about August 7th, and kept it till 

 September 19th. It was particularly common, at 

 the end of August, near Oxford, where on the 29th 

 I saw a dragon-fly, which I took to belong to this 

 species, on the wing, and apparently hunting, at 

 seven o'clock in the evening. The capture of this 

 insect is not an easy matter, and females appear 

 not to be commonly seen. The brown ground- 

 colour of the body preserves well, but the small 

 yellow and blue markings do not. 



Calopteryx virgo, Linn. I came across a few 

 specimens of this splendid insect about the middle 

 of August in the New Forest. Their period was 

 over, but the few that were still to be seen enabled 

 one to faintly imagine what Lymington River must 

 have been like wlien they were on the wing in 

 numbers, the males rivaling in colour the king- 

 fishers that accompanied them. The two species 

 of Calopteryx make a fine show in the cabinet, for 

 the colour of their body, being metallic-green or 

 blue, preserves perfectly. The wings of the 

 females vary greatly in tint. 



Lestes sponsa, Hans. This species I met with only 

 in one corner of the Hut Pond, at Wisley, on 

 August 28th and September nth, flying low over 

 the water. Its colours fade but little after death. 



Enallagma cyathigerum, Charp. As early as May 

 14th, E. cyathigerum was on the wing at the Black 

 Pond, but I did not notice it after June 23rd. 

 When living, a noticeable feature is the glossy 



