THE YOXJKG NATURALIST. 



100 



are bred in these streams, and if we 

 thrash the herbage on the banks we shall i 

 disturb some of them We keep on this road j 

 until we arrive again at Edwinstowe, it is J 

 four o'clock and Mrs. Morley is glad to see 

 us, and we are quite as glad to make the | 

 acquaintance of the contents of her pantry. 

 After a good feed and a good rest during 

 which w e kill and set out the captures of the 

 day we feel inclined for a short evening 

 stroll. It might be to Rufford. or to 

 Ollerton. a small town— or rather village — 

 about two miles off, let us go, I am sure you 

 will be delighted with the beautiful flowers, 

 and vines with bunches of grapes growing 

 close by the causew av side, we can be back 

 again by nine when we can turn in and go 

 to sleep without any "Godfrey's Cordial" 

 or " soothing syrup," and rise in the morning j 

 with a renewed lease of life, ready to spend 

 another day in the beautiful Forest of 

 Sherwood. 



ORDERS OF INSECTS. 



(Continued from page 101.) 



NE UROPTERA. 



Thoi'oh we have given our figures of the 

 Dragon Fly and Caddis Fly the same number 

 on our Plate (Plati: 1, Fios. 3,\. 3b) we 

 are inclined to agree with those who 

 separate the Xetiroptera into two orders. If 

 there he any grounds for dividing the 

 Hemeptera into the two sub-orders of ffomoptera 

 and Heteroptera there are more reasons for 

 making the Trichoptera distinct from the 

 Neuroptera. No doubt the perfect insects 

 resemble each other very closely, all having 

 four membraneous wings, generally of nearly 

 equal length, and often having long slender 

 bodies, but there is such a great difference in 

 the two sections that we think our leaders also 

 will incline to recognise them in different 

 orders. Ia the first place the metamorphosis 



of the Neu.optvra is incomplete, that is, The. 

 larva' resemble the pupae, and the latter the 

 perfect insect, moving and eating just as in 

 the earlier and later stages, except that the 

 wings are not developed. The metamorphosis 

 of the Trichoptera is as complete as in Bees or 

 Beetles, of which we will speak >.oou. The 

 larva; have no resemblance to the imago, and 

 the pupa; are motionless and helpless. In the 

 perfect state, a.- we have named in a former 

 paper, there is a most important difference. 

 The Neuroptera have mandibles or jaws, and 

 bite their food. The Trichoptera have a 

 haustellum or tongue, and suck theirs. But 

 we do not pretend to settle disputed points, 

 and merely call your attention to the resem- 

 blances and dirt'erene »s, leaving you to draw 

 your own conclusions. 



The best known insects among the Neu- 

 roptera will be the Dragon Flies (Libetlala). 

 In their earlier stages they are aquatic-, the 

 larvae running about the muddy bottoms of 

 ponds or slow streams. The larva elosely 

 r^sembles the perfect insect, except that it 

 wants the wings. The pnpa is very similar, 

 and the wing cases are not visible. When 

 prepared for the final change, it climts up a 

 reed or other stem, splits down the back, and 

 a Dragon Fly emerges, ready, as soon as its 

 wings are dr\, to fly away. They are very 

 predacious, often travel far from their watery 

 birth place, to which they must return and 

 deposit their eggs. The Dragon Fly is easily 

 reared in an aquarium, but the larva and pupa 

 both devour all kinds of small insects, and 

 have such a stealthy, cat-like way of stealing 

 on their prey that very little escapes them, 

 and they have a sort of jaw that they can dart 

 out some distance from their head to seize the 

 luckless insect that has come within their 

 reach. 



White Ants are perhaps the most interest- 

 ing of the Neuroptera, but very fortunately we 

 have none in Britain. They build large and 

 verv substantial structures. Travellers vary 

 in ther stories about these nests, if such they 



