134 



ÏNSECTA, 



ORDER V. NEUROPTERA. 



Four similar, naked, membranous and reticulated wings ; 

 mouth exhibiting mandibles, jaws and two lips, suitable for 

 mastication ; abdomen without sting, and seldom provided with 

 an ovipositor ; antennae generally setaceous, and composed of 

 a great number of articulations ; small eyes, two or three ; 

 metamorphosis complete or incomplete; larvae always fur- 

 nished with six hooked feet, which they use in their search 

 for food ; form generally elegant ; colour sometimes very 

 brilliant ; regimen carnivorous in the larvae and perfect in- 

 sects. Two remarkable families. 



FAMILY OF THE SUBULICORNES. 



Antennas of not more than seven joints, and but little 

 longer than the head ; mandibles and jaws entirely covered 

 by the labrum and labium ; habitation, during the two states 

 of larva and nymph, in the water, where they feed upon 

 living prey. Two genera. 



Genus I. Libellula, Lin. Dragon-Flies. 



Head thick and round, or triangular ; two large lateral 

 eyes ; three simple eyes placed upon the vertex ; two anten- 

 nas inserted in the forehead ; corselet thick and round ; ab- 

 domen much elongated, and terminated, in the males, by two 

 lamellar appendages; form slender; colours agreeable and 

 various ; wings large and like lustrous gauze ; wonderful 

 agility in pursuing Flies or other Insects upon which they 

 prey ; the larvae and nymphs (which differ only in the rudi- 

 mental wings possessed by the latter) live in marshes, where 

 they swim by means of a kind of oars, or by a particular 

 mechanism, which consists in expelling from the abdomen a 

 certain quantity of water previously introduced into the 

 intestines, where there are organs resembling branchiae. 



Genus IT. Ephemera, Lin. 



Body soft, long, tapering, and terminated posteriorly by 

 two or three long and articulated setae ; wings inclined to the 

 rear ; legs very slender ; tibiae short and confounded with 



