lo INTRODUCTION. 



Chrysopides, the lace-wing flies, fragile insects, with four 

 beautiful gauzy wings, which fold over their backs roofwise, 

 are remarkable for their brilliant gold or ruby coloured eyes, 

 which possess a remarkable brilliance ; and, lastly, the 



SialidcB, of which there is only one British species that 

 has two pairs of dusky wings, the hind pair slightly smaller, 

 and both heavily veined. 



The Ephemera (plates 3 and 4), of which there are over forty 

 species, form one of the most important classes to anglers. 

 From early Spring to late Autumn they are seen in swarms 

 about the water with a curious up and down flight, winging 

 their way before the wind or quietly floating down the stream 

 with wings upright. They have an infinite variety of size and 

 colour ; some species have well-marked cloudy wings easy of 

 imitation, others have wings which vie with the rainbow in 

 colour and prismatic beauty, of which no entirely satisfactory 

 imitation can be produced. The Ephemeia are aquatic 

 insects — the eggs are laid in the water and the larvae live and 

 grow there. Coming to the surface, the larva shakes off its 

 sheath and emerges as a sub-imago, this later, casts a second 

 sheath and becomes a spinner or imago, and it is in this last 

 stage that it baffles the imitator's skill. Some Ephemera have 

 a larval period of 12 months and others three years, hence, the 

 pollution of a stream only once in every three years may be the 

 cause of the disappearance of the large drakes from so many 

 of our streams. 



The Stone Flies or Perlidcs, of which 40 species are 

 indigenous to this country, are also of interest to Anglers — 

 especially on the upper waters of our streams, whose stony 

 beds are the habitat of their larvae. 



Like the Ephemera, they begin to show in March or even 

 earlier and are with us to the end of the season. Their larvae 

 prey on other insects, especially the larvae of the smaller 

 Ephemera. Their eggs are dropped on the water and hatch 



