128 STATES OF INSECTS. 



cles with which in the insect it is amply provided : but 

 Merlin, or his successor, has surmounted greater obsta- 

 cles. In the larva of the Fabrician JEshiice {Libellula 

 grandis, &c. L.), this apparatus is not convex but flat : 

 so that, though it equally conceals the face, it does not so 

 accurately resemble a mask ; and the jaws at its apex are 

 not convex plates, but rather two single conical teeth a . 

 It is, as to its general shape, similarly constructed in 

 Agrion Fab. [L. Virgo, &c. L.); but the first joint is 

 more remarkably elongated, the jaws more precisely re- 

 semble jaws than in any of the rest, and are armed with 

 three long, very sharp teeth : between them also there is 

 a lozenge-shaped opening, through which, when the ap- 

 paratus is closed, is protruded a circular sort of nipple, 

 apparently analogous to the ligula b . Libellula amea, L., 

 which is the type of another tribe (Cordulia Leach), has 

 a mask somewhat different from all the above, the jaws be- 

 ing armed with a moveable claw and an internal tooth c . 

 You will admire the wisdom of this admirable contri- 

 vance, when you reflect that these larvae are not fitted to 

 pursue their prey with rapidity, like most predaceous 

 animals ; but that they steal upon them, as De Geer ob- 

 serves d , as a cat does upon a bird, very slowly, and as if 

 they counted their steps ; and then, by a sudden evolu- 

 tion of this machine, take them as it were by surprise, 

 when they think themselves safe. De Geer says, it is 

 very difficult for other insects to elude their attacks, and 

 that he has even seen them devour very small fishes e . 



a Reaum. vi. t. xxxvii./. 4 — 6. 8. 



b Ibid. t. xxxviii. First joint/. 8. bfp. ; jaws/. 7. c d.; opening o, 

 Ligula/. 6. /. 



e De Geer ii./. 17, Jaws gg; claw d; tooth h. d Ibid. 674. 

 e Ibid. ii. G74. 



