THE BUG WITH A MASK. 



93 



Little white eggs are laid on the water; the ripples carry thein 

 far away, and then they sink into the mud. 

 I I The warni sun hatches them, and from each egg creeps a tiny 

 grub of greenish color. They are hungry creatures, with very bad 

 hearts. They eat up every little insect that comes in their way. 

 They are very sly, too. They creep towards their prey as a cat 

 does when she is in search of a rat. 



They lift their small, hairy legs as if they were to do the work. 

 It is not the legs, but the head that does it. Suddenly it seems to 

 open, and down drops a kind of visor, with joints and hinges. 



This strange thing is stretched out until it swings from the chin. 

 Quick as a flash some insect is caught in the trap and eaten. 



This queer trap, or mask, is the under lip of the grub. Instead of 

 being flesh, like ours, it is hard and horny, and large enough to 

 cover the whole face. 



It has teeth and muscles, and the grub iises it as a weapon, too. 



It is nearly a year before this ugly-looking grub gets its wings. 

 A little while after it is hatched four tiny buds sprout from its 

 shoulders, just as you see them on the branch of a tree. These are 

 really only watery sacs at first. Inside of them the wings grow 

 slowly until you can see the bright colors shining through. 



Some morning this hairy-legged little bug creeps up a branch. 

 Then he shakes out his Avings and flies away into the air, a slendei', 

 beautiful dragon-fly. 



I have told you of the only creature in the world that wears this 

 curious mask. 



