4 1 4 LIFE-HISTORY OF LESTES LED A SELYS, 



It has been stated that the species of the genus Lestes often 

 oviposit on the branches of trees overhanging the water. I have 

 attempted to verify this statement. One day I was fortunate 

 enough to find a pair of L. leda sitting on the thick stalk of a 

 water-plant {Polygonum) about a yard above the surface of the 

 water, and apparently ovipositing in the same way as they do in 

 water I watched this pair for ten minutes, and the female 

 appeared to lay half-a-dozen eggs. I then captured the pair and 

 plucked the stalk carefully. Examination with a pocket lens 

 failed to disclose any ova. Moreover the female when dissected 

 proved to be an old one with but few ova left inside her, and 

 these few were far removed from the extremity of the abdomen. 

 In this case it appears reasonable to suppose that the action 

 of the female was only a muscular one designed to force the 

 few remaining ova down to the end of her abdomen. This is 

 the only occasion on which I have ever seen L. leda apparently 

 ovipositing out of the water. On the other hand, I have watched 

 many hundreds of pairs ovipositing in the water, so that it can 

 safely be accepted that that is their usual habit. 



O v u m. — The ovum itself is transparent and practically colour- 

 less; in shape like a torpedo (Plate xxxii., fig. 1), and without any 

 sculpture or markings. Length 0-8 mm.; breadth across middle 

 0-2 mm. 



Some ova deposited by a captured female were kept by me in 

 water for some weeks. After a short time they darkened slightly 

 in colour; but afterwards, though I watched them every day, I 

 could not detect the slightest change in them, and after some 

 weeks a mouldy growth formed round them. They were probably 

 unfertile. I have never actually succeeded in hatching out the 

 young larvse of this or any other species of Odonata. 



Larva-Nymph : — The young larva is transparent and 

 almost colourless. As it grows, its colour gradually deepens,, 

 first to a pale straw-colour and later on to a pale green. The 

 half-grown larva is generally a pale transparent green, with only 

 a slight trace of any markings. It is not very active, spending 



