CHAPTER XV1I1. 



ORDER VIII. NEUROPTERA. 



The wings, in this order of insects, are made up of a line network, membranous, and 

 usually naked and without down or scales : they are subequal or equal. Sometimes the 

 lower wings are broader than the upper ; but, if narrower, they are longer. The mouth is 

 fitted in some families for mastication, particularly in the libellulickr, which are furnished 

 with transversely movable jaws. The abdomen is usually long, but is destitute of a sting. 

 The antennae are not uniform in the different families : in some they are long ; in others, 

 short. They have two or three simple eyes. The trunk is formed of three segments closely 

 united : the abdomen is sessile. The larva has six feet. The metamorphosis is not always 

 complete. 



The order contains several well-known families, as the dragonflies, mayflies, white ants, 

 and the ant-lion flies. In all these families, as well as in those not yet mentioned, the wings 

 are formed of a fine network of nervures, so arranged in the minute details of structure 

 as to constitute a great number of areolets of much beauty. 



In this order there is one family, the termitides, which are extremely interesting in their 

 economy and habits, as well as an instance of a remarkable development of the faculty of 

 instinct : they are social, and live in large communities; while most of the other families 

 are solitary, and do not construct habitations for the common convenience and defence. 



Libcllulidae. 



Libellilidje is the family name of the dragonflies : they are insects which become familiar 

 to every body, and are frequently called darningneedlcs or deviPs-needlcs. Their heads and 

 eyes, especially the latter, are always large : their bodies are long ; the thorax is thick 

 and strong, and the abdomen long and rather slender, though not always so, and is ter- 

 minated by two inarticulated appendages. The antennae are short. They have three ocelli : 

 two lateral ones, and one seated in the median line. The mouth is well formed, and the 

 mandibles are strong and horny. They have four wings, which, when at rest, are extended 

 horizontally or carried over the abdomen. 



