378 



CHARACTERS OF INVERTEBRATE ANIMALS 



hinder part can be curled up over the back like a scorpion's tail. 

 The wings are narrow, and when at rest are held in a horizontal 

 position. The head is of characteristic shape, for it is prolonged 

 into a downwardly-directed beak, which has been compared in 

 appearance to the face of a horse. Though the insect is small 

 (about y^ inch long), its black body, yellow legs and beak, 

 and wings speckled with white and brown make it a striking 

 and beautiful object. The larva is predatory and terrestrial, 

 being not unlike the false caterpillar of a saw-fly in appearance, 

 possessing as it does three pairs of legs proper, followed by eight 

 pairs of pro-legs. Later on, it passes into a quiescent pupa stage. 

 Ant-Lions are insects with slender body, four equal mem- 

 branous wings, and antennae clubbed like those of butterflies. 

 They do not occur in this country, but are common on the 

 Continent, where they have long attracted attention from the 

 peculiar habits of the larvae in the type-genus [Myrmeleo). It 

 is these to which the name ant-lion was originally applied on 

 account of the devastations they commit among those and other 

 insects, their mode of operation being to dig pit-falls in the sand, 



at the bottom of which they 

 remain buried, with only the 

 enormous mandibles project- 

 ing. 



Lacewing-Flies are repre- 

 sented by about fifteen native 

 species, a common example 

 being the Golden -eyed Fly 

 {Chrysopa vulgaris) (fig. 229), 

 an extremely fragile green 

 insect with four gauzy wings, 

 long slender antennae, and brilliant eyes gleaming like gold. The 

 eggs are attached to leaves by long stalks, and the voracious 

 larvae which hatch out from them are known as " aphis lions ", 

 a name fully justified by the effective manner in which they keep 

 plant-lice in check. 



3. Caddis-Flies (fig. 228) in the adult condition look rather 

 like moths, but their wings are hairy instead of scaly, and their 

 larvae are aquatic " caddis-worms ", remarkable for the habit of 

 forming protective cases from sand-grains, bits of stick, or other 

 foreign matters. A caddis-worm is something like a caterpillar. 



Fig. 229. — Golden-eyed Fly {Chrysopa. vulgaris) 



I. Adult female ; 2, stalked eggs ; 3, 4, larva (natural size and 

 enlarged); 5,6, cocoon (natural size and enlarged). 



