NEUROPTERA. 421 
in the case of the Ephemere do the duty of fins. The pupa already 
presents stumps of wings. To effect its metamorphosis it drags 
itself out of the water, where it has lived for nearly a year, climbs 
slowly to some neighbouring plant, and hangs itself there. Very 
soon the sun dries and hardens its skin, which all of a sudden 
becomes crisp and cracks. The dragon-fly then sets free its head 
and its thorax, and its legs, its wings, still soft and wanting in 
vigour, gain strength by coming in contact with the air, and, 
after a few hours, they have attained their full development. 
Immediately the insect abandons, like a worn-out suit, the dull 
slimy skin which had covered it so long, and which still preserves 
its shape (Fig. 393), and dashes off in quest of prey. 
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Fig. 394.—Libellula depressa, the Common Dragon-Fly. 
The Libellulas are common all over the world. Their type is 
the Libellula depressa (Fig. 394), very common in Europe. The 
male is brown, with the abdomen blue underneath ; the female, of 
a sort of olive-yellow, bordered by yellow on the sides. Both have 
the abdomen broad and flattened. 
The shna, with a cylindrical abdomen, attains to the length 
of two and a half inches. Its flight is more rapid than that of the 
swallow. The Calepteryx flies more slowly. The male is of a 
metallic blue, its diaphanous wings are traversed by a band of 
greenish blue; the female, of a bronzed green, has wings of a _ 
metallic green, with a yellowish mark on the edge. These insects 
rest on reeds, retaining their wings in a vertical position. 
