Mykmkleonid^, INSECTS. Hemekobiid^. 
251 
better, for he instantly settled for a few minutes on a 
twig on the bank, as their manner invariably is when 
they take prey, to eat it. 
Family— MYRMELEONIDiB {Ant-lions), 
A large and important family of insects, the larvae 
of which are called Ant-lions, from their digging 
pits and laying in wait for ants or other insects, 
which, passing near the edge of their pitfalls, often 
tumble down, and when they try to escape are often 
brought into the very jaws of the former by the shovel- 
ling up of sand directed against them when beating 
a retreat. Plate 6, fig. 5, represents the common 
European species Myrmelson formicarius and its larva, 
pupa, and its globular cocoon. 
The African Ant-lions, and some of the Indian 
species, are very large, and have spotted wings. 
The genus Ascalaphus, has long clubbed antennse. 
Plate 6, fig. 8, represents the Ascalaphus barbarus, 
a species of this very distinct genus. 
Family — HEMEROBIIDjE {Lace-wing Flies). 
Thei e is a family of insects, the grubs of which are 
famed for their wholesale destruction of those noisome 
insects, the plant-lice. This family, the HemerobiidcB, 
are generally of a pale-green colour, with four large 
wings delicately netted with veins, from which they 
have obtained the name of Lace-wing flies. Their 
eggs are large and projecting, and have a brilliant 
golden hue, whence the insects are often called Golden- 
eyed flies. Pretty as they are, when taken in the hand, 
they emit a most disagreeable smell not easily got rid 
of. The eggs are raised on a longish thread. Dr. 
Fitch has thus described the process of their oviposi- 
tion. “Nature has furnished these insects with a fluid 
analogous to that which spiders are provided with for 
spinning their webs, which possesses the remarkable 
property of hardening immediately on being exposed 
to the air. When ready to drop an egg, the female 
touches the surface of the leaf with the end of her 
body, and then elevating the latter, draws out a slender 
thread like a cobweb, half an inch long, or less, and 
places a little oval egg at its summit. Thus, a small 
round spot resembling mildew is formed upon the 
surface of the leaf, from the middle of which arises a 
very slender, glossy, white thread, which is sometimes 
split at its base, thus giving it a more secure attach- 
ment than it would have if single.” * The gruh leaves 
the egg in less than a week after it is deposited ; seve- 
ral of these eggs may often be seen together, after the 
larvJB are hatched. Dr. Fitch has shown, that when 
first hatched, these grubs feed chiefly on the eggs of 
insects, and in this way must destroy great numbers of 
noxious creatures. This, too, accounts for the reason 
why the female places her eggs on these hair-like, 
pedicels ; it is to keep them from the attacks of their 
own kind. As they increase in size, the larvae become 
truly “ aphis-lions,” laying hold of the plant-lice, and 
sucking out their juices. The jaws of these grubs are 
long, and sickle-shaped, and well fitted to probe the 
* Dr. Fitch’s Report on Noxious and Beneficial Insects, p. 71. 
often narrow crevices and fissures in which their prey 
lurks. Some of the species cover themselves with the 
skins of their victims, which are supported on their 
backs by the radiating bristles which clothe them. 
When the larva has attained its full growth, it becomes 
inactive, and spins a cocoon ; the tail exuding a glutin- 
ous secretion, which hardens on exposure to the air. 
The larvae contract and compress themselves into 
cocoons scarcely one-fourth their size, and from these 
cocoons come flies double the size of the larvae , as Dr. 
Fitch remarks, it is like a full-grown hen hatching 
from an ordinary sized egg. 
Fig. 154. 
HemerobiidsB 
a Leaf with eggs. c Female Lace-wing. 
b An egg magnified. d Male of do. 
M. Guerin-Meneville named a most lovely species 
of Hemerobius Chrysopa MarioneUa, after Marion 
Frances, the youngest of the writer’s daughters. 
Dr. Hagen gives the names of thirty-two species of 
Hemerobiidae as British. These are placed in seven 
genera as follows : — 
Osmylus, 0. Chrysops, a pretty, brown insect, with 
the wings spotted with black ; it is met with in the 
month of June, and appears to prefer stony rapid 
streams which are fringed with alders. The larva lives 
partly in water ; the cocoon is of irregular form, and 
composed of spun-silk. In this genus there are ocelli 
visible. 
Chrysopa, fifteen species. In this genus the ocelli 
are wanting ; the larva feeds on Aphidae ; the cocoon is 
in the form of a barrel, and is composed of thick spun 
silk. For the names and characters of the species 
the reader is referred to Dr. Hagen’s Synopsis, as we 
cannot give them here. 
Sisyra, two species. The larva lives in water, and 
has been described by Westwood under the name of 
Branchiostoma spongillce. 
Micromus, three species. 
Hemerobius, seven species. The larva of the 
species of this genus preys on Aphidae, and clothes 
itself with the empty skins of its prey ; the cocoon is 
oval, and of a gauzy silken texture. 
Drepanopteryx, Coniopteryx ; the species of the 
latter are small, and covered with a white mealy 
powder. The larviB live on fir-trees, the Aphidm 
frequenting which trees are their food ; the cocoon is 
