36 



BENEFICIAL INSECTS. 



BY JOSEPH WILLIAMS, MONTREAL, QUEBEa 



The Lacewing Fly — Chrysopa, 



This beautiful insect belongs to the order Neuroptera, of which other well-known and 

 representative members are the Dragon flies and the Ephemerids or May flies. 



The accompanying figure 

 gives a good idea of the form of 

 this fly, as well as that of the 

 eggs and larva. 



The wings of the adult fly 

 are large and broad, and pressed 

 against the sides of the body 

 when at rest ; the antennse are 

 long, delicate, and many -jointed ; and the head is small, with two very prominent and 

 rounded eyes. Although the form may be accurately given, it is impossible, in an engrav- 

 ing, to do justice to the wonderful and delicate beauty of the insect, about which is not 

 one particle either black or white. Its body, head and thorax are leaf green, and its 

 wings are wide, thin, gauzy, and glossed with changing hues of green and pink, accord- 

 ing to the angle at which the light falls on them. 



The Rev. J. G. Wood, in his " Insects at Home," gives an excellent description of an 

 English Chrysopa, which is so nearly identical with ours, that we may use his graphic 

 words in this connection. 



"The chief beauty of the insect lies, however, in its eyes, which, without the aid 

 of a magnifying glass, look like two tiny beads of burnished gold, and have earned for the 

 insect the popular name of the ' Golden Eye,' of which the Greek word Chrysopo, is but a 

 translation. But if the insect be placed under the microscope, and a brilliant light be di- 

 rected on the eyes, a wonderful change takes place. They are very convex in form, and the 

 hexagonal facets are marked with extreme boldness, considering the small size of the or- 

 gan. They are so clearly defined, indeed, that even with a common pocket magnifier of 

 low power they can be easily distinguished. 



" Were the eye to be simple brown or even black it would be a beautiful object, in 

 consequence of these hexagonal lenses, but over the whole surface of the compound eye 

 plays a brilliant combination of colour. Every separate hexagon looks like a framework 

 of burnished gold, changing with the shifting light into various hues of rich green and 

 carmine. In fact the whole eye looks very much like a hemispherical brooch, entirely 

 covered with emeralds and rubies. 



" It is rather hard on the insect to expose it to this strong light, which is needed to 

 bring out its beauties, for it is a lover of darkness, and only comes out after sunset, when 

 it may be observed fluttering with apparently aimless flight in the air. But it is impos- 

 sible to see the full splendour of this magnificent object without exposing the insect to 

 some inconvenience. A dead specimen is useless, for the colour departs alike from the 

 body and the eye. As to the pale green of the body, it is the most fugitive colour that an in- 

 sect can possess, while the more gorgeous hues of the eye vanish soon after the life departs, 

 and very little is left of their once magnificent beauty. Would that some method could 

 be discovered of preserving the two fugitive tints of this lovely insect. There is a speci- 

 men now before me which has only been dead some forty-eight hours, and already the tender 



