CHAPTER XIV. 



NET-VEINED INSECTS WITH AN INCOMPLETE META- 

 MORPHOSIS* 



Seveeal orders of insects belong here, which agree in 

 having net-veined wings and an incomplete metamorphosis. 



Tlie White Ants, etc. — The workers are wingless, some- 

 what resembling ants, and like them burrowing in wood, 

 but they are white, whUe the males and females have long 

 narrow wings which lie flat on the back. The insects of 

 this order are called Platyptera, since their wings when at 

 rest are laid flat on the back of the body. 



The May Flies. — These insects are 

 short-lived in the final winged state, liv- 

 ing but a day or so. Some of the species 

 belong to the genus Ephemera. In their 

 winged state they take no food, their 

 mouth-parts being rudimentary; their 

 hind wings are small or wanting, while 

 the hind-body ends in three long fila- 

 ments. The order is called Plectuptera 

 (Greek, pledos, a net, and ptcron, wing). ^"^iN^mrlu^e f '^' 



Tlie Dragon Flies. — These insects represent an order 

 called Odonata. Their larvae 

 and pupsB are aquatic. Their 

 hind wings are as large as the 

 fore pair and finely net- veined. 



The Thrips. — It forms a 

 connecting link between the 

 net-veined insects and the 

 bugs. The jaws are bristle- 

 like, situated within the max- 

 illae, and there are two pairs 

 of short palpi. The wings are 

 narrow and fringed, hence the 

 name of the order to which Thrips belongs, i.e. Thysan- 

 optera (Greek, thusanos, fringe ; pteron, wing). 



* LiTERATXjRE. — Hagen's Synopsis of N. A. Neuroptera, 



Fia. 1046. 



Fio. 104c.— 

 Thrips. 

 (Much en- 

 larged.) 

 Agrion, a dragoii-fly. 

 (Natural size.) 



