NERVE-WINGED OR LACE-WINGED INSECTS 301 
out of the cocoon which it made, when a larva, by spinning grains of sand together with silken 
threads. 
In some South European and African insects allied to the ant-lions the hind wings are 
modified into extremely long and slender shafts, slightly expanded at the extremities. In 
an Indian species belonging to a 
related genus these wings are scarcely 
more than threads, and bear a super- 
ficial resemblance to the attenuated 
limbs of certain gnats. One group, | he 
of which a Japanese species is a 
well-known representative, is char- “OY 
acterised by the long, slender, and 
clubbed antenne. 
The MANTIS-FLIES are remark- ; 
able for the structure of the fore | 
limbs, which are almost exactly 
similar in character to those of the 
praying-mantis. The upper segment 
of the leg is so lengthened as to look 
like an additional joint; the lower 
surface of the thigh is armed with a 
fumber of long, sharp spines} and) “sau yy wo saudieceae, FER 
the tibia, or lower part of the leg, TERMITES’ NEST 
folds closely down upon it, after the 
manner of the blade of a clasp-knife. 
These limbs are used for seizing, an insect which is once grasped being effectually prevented 
by the spines from breaking away. 
The larvze of these insects are parasitic in the nests of tree-wasps and spiders, and have 
the peculiarity of practically losing their limbs as they approach maturity; so that while at 
first they are free and active, they afterwards become almost as helpless as those of many 
beetles. One species is found in Southern Europe, the remainder being widely distributed 
over the hotter regions of the globe. 
| ; Allied to the Mantis-flies are the curious SNAKE- 
| FLIES, or CAMEL-FLIES. In these insects the head is 
| 
| 
tee Gti gba 
es 
Showing one year’s reconstruction to nest, of which the photographer made a section 
very large, and is attached to the thorax, or central 
division of the body, by a long and distinct neck, 
which allows it great freedom of motion. The neck 
‘is usually raised and the head bent down, giving to 
the insect a remarkably snake-like appearance. 
These flies are predaceous in their habits, and the 
four British species may be found on the banks of 
ponds and small streams, where they can obtain 
i _.....J imsect-victims in plenty. The larvee live beneath the 
Bhete: byes Be Dan dey BAS bark of trees, and wriggle about in a singularly 
SCORPION-FLY serpentine fashion. 
Remarkable for the curious structure of the end of the body Equally curious in a different way are the 
SCORPION-FLIES, in which the body is prolonged into 
a slender three-jointed process, the extremity of which, in the male, is furnished with 
a pair of curved forceps. In spite of their somewhat formidable appearance these insects 
are perfectly harmless. They are very plentiful almost everywhere, and may be found in 
numbers on any sunny summer morning resting on the herbage on hedge-banks, or running 
actively about on the leaves of low bushes. Like the Snake-flies, they are predaceous, feeding 
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