DRAGON -FLIES 415 



abound are naturally those most frequented ; the glades of woods, 

 country lanes and hedge-sides, the borders of streams and the 

 margins of sheets of water are the places they most affect. They 

 inspire the rustics with some feeling of fear, and hence have 

 received the name of " horse-stingers," and in North Aanerica are 

 called "devil's darning-needles." The aversion to dragon -flies 

 may perhaps be due to their appearance, which is certainly, in 

 the case of some of our species of Aeschna, Gordtdegaster, and 

 Gomphus, very remarkable, consisting of a dark ground -colom- 

 with bars and spots of vivid green or yellow, giving, it must be 

 admitted, a peculiar, CA^en savage appearance to the Insects. 

 Whatever the reason may be, they are, it is certain, held in much 

 fear, and it is difficult to induce a country lad to touch one even 

 when it is captured and held by another person. The idea of 

 dragon-flies being dangerous to anything but their Insect victims 

 is, however, entirely erroneous ; they may be captured and 

 handled without their inflicting any injury. It is probable that 

 the life of the imago may endure for several weeks if not months. 

 It is known that Sympycna ftosca — a common European though 

 not British dragon-fly — hibernates in the imago state. 



In the case of the large dragon-flies we have mentioned, each 

 individual appears to have a domain, as it were, of its own. 

 Westwood tells us that he has seen what he believed to be the 

 same individual hawking daily for several weeks together over a 

 small pond. The writer observed a specimen of Gordidegaster 

 anmdatus to frequent a particular bush, to which it retm-ned 

 — frequently to the same leaf — after an excursion in search 

 of food. The way in which these Insects actually seize their 

 prey has not yet been made clear; it is certain that they 

 capture flying Insects, and it seems most probable, as we 

 have already said, that this is done by means of the legs. 

 These, as we have said, are inserted so as to be very near 

 to the mouth; they are directed forwards, and are held bent 

 at right angles so as to form a sort of net, and are armed 

 with a beautiful system of fine spines; it is probable that 

 if the dragon-fly pursue an Insect on the wing and strike it 

 with the trap, formed by its six legs (Fig. 262, C), then these 

 immediately come together under the mouth, so that the victim, 

 directly it is captured by the leg-trap of its pursuer, finds 

 itself in the jaws of its destroyer. It is perhaps impossible to 



