into two Classes. cxcix 



newly acquired mandibles a hole through the wall of the cocoon, 

 through which the imago passes, leaving the shell of the pupa 

 still projecting from the aperture: it is a common belief that 

 the pupa gnaws this opening, but this is not the case, the pu- 

 pa having no command whatever over its cibarian apparatus. 

 Imago without the slightest resemblance to the larva, and scarcely 

 any to the pupa ; its head is transverse, and its antennae gene- 

 rally incrassated outwardly, although in some Myrmeleontes 

 almost filiform ; its mandibles are corneous, curved, and mor- 

 dent ; its body long, slender, and cylindrical ; and its wings of 

 uniform size and shape, and finely reticulated. 

 The contents of this group seem to be capable of subdivision in 

 accordance with the following formula. 



Antennae abruptly capitate : — 



of nearly the same length as the wings, 



Eyes divided Ascalaphim, Newm. 



Eyes undivided HAPLOGLENiiDiE, Newm. 



of nearly the same length as the head, Stilboptericid^e, Newm. 

 Antennae gradually clavate, short, Myrmeleontioe, Nwm. 



Obs. 1. — The Ascalaphidae are divided by M. Rambur into the ge- 

 nera Ascalaphus, Theleproctophylla, Puer, Bubo, Ulula, and Colobo- 

 pterus: after a careful examination of the characters employed by this 

 learned entomologist, I feel considerable hesitation in adopting them 

 as indicative of more than specific differences. I may perhaps be par- 

 doned for objecting also to names previously used in a sister science. 



Obs. 2. — The Haplogleniidae are divided by the same entomologist 

 into the genera Byas, Haploglenius, and Azesia, the latter comprising 

 but a single species, the Azesia Napoleo of Lefebvre, described and 

 figured in Guerin's ' Magasin de Zool.' Ann. 1842, Ins. p. 92 ; but 

 this very striking insect, truly the emperor of its tribe, had been previ- 

 ously described by myself, under the name of Stilbopteryx marginatus 

 (see Ent. Mag. v. 399, under date of 1838), and the name had for 

 three years been employed in all our collections : I have regarded it as 

 forming a distinct group. 



Obs. 3. — The Myrmeleontidae are divided by Rambur into four 

 genera, Palpares, Acanthoclisis, Myrmeleon, and Megistopus, and the 

 genus Myrmeleon is again subdivided into fourteen sections. 



