INSECTS. 123 



hairy veins on the fore wings ; H. dipterus, with hind 

 wings almost entirely absent), the larvae of which 

 also feed on aphides, and make a case from their 

 sucked-out skins. 



3. The Ant Lions {Myrmeleon), of which the fat, 

 thickset larvse, which have a large head and strong 

 grasping pincers, dig out in the sand funnel-shaped 

 holes, at the bottom of which they hide, lying ih wait 

 for ants and the like, which step on the edge, when 

 the sand gives way and causes them to fall in. The 

 species of the first two genera are of service as de- 

 stroyers of aphides ; the ant lions are of no importance. 



The Scorpion Flies (Panorpatce) have attached to 

 the head a kind of proboscis, the upper side of which 

 is formed by a prolongation of the forehead, and the 

 under side by the maxillae and lower lip, while the 

 upper lip and mandibles are hinged on at its tip. 

 Here belongs the slender-bodied Scorpion Fly {Pa- 

 norpa communis), an insect found in May, and again 

 in July or August, on the leaves of trees and shrubs, 

 when it is sunny. While the abdomen of the female 

 ends in an ovipositor, it bends upwards in the male, 

 and terminates in a pincer-like organ ; hence the name 

 "scorpion fly." Wings flecked with brown. Scor- 

 pion flies catch on the wing a very large number of 

 butterflies and moths, and are therefore useful to some 

 extent. 



Fourth Order: Hymenoptera (Membranous- 

 winged Insects). 



Upper lip and mandibles short ; the latter used for 

 biting. Maxillae loose-jointed, so that they can be 

 stretched out considerably; elongated in those which 

 lick the juices of flowers. In the last-named forms 

 the larva's lips are still more elongated, and may 

 even form a tongue or proboscis-like organ, which 

 may bear lateral appendages (" secondary tongues "). 



