INSECTS. 
164 
several hundred eggs packed closely together in a single cluster; they stand 
upright, being cylindrical in form, with rounded ends, and each terminating above 
in a little white projection. The larvae hatch in a few weeks, and then find their 
way into water, where they creep on the mud in search of the aquatic creatures on 
which they feed. When full-grown, they are about an inch long, with a body 
tapering slightly towards the head, and, more gradually, towards the long and 
narrow tail. The head and three thoracic rings are horny, the rest of the body 
having a softer integument. The larva, which has strong legs and can walk well, 
breathes by means of tracheal gills, having the form of jointed appendages attached 
in pairs to the sides of the first seven abdominal segments. When the time for 
pupation arrives, generally about May or June, the larva leaves the water and 
seeks a place to bury itself in the earth. Having excavated a little cell, it throws 
off the larval skin and becomes a pupa, which has the legs and wings free from 
I.IFE-HISTORY OF THE COMMON ANT-LION. 
a, Imago ; b, Larva ; c, Pupa (nat. size). 
the body, but enclosed in special sheaths. After a few weeks longer it is trans¬ 
formed into the perfect insect. 
The lace-wing flies, ant-lions, mantis-flies, and some other families, have been 
associated in a third group of Planipennia, to which the name Megaloptera is 
given. In all, the wings are relatively large and closely reticulated ; the prothorax 
being variable in size and form, and the joints of the tarsi not dilated. The mantis- 
flies (Mantispidce) take their name from the shape of the fore-legs, and their 
position near the front end of the long prothorax; in which respect they resemble 
the mantis or praying insect. One species is common in South Europe. The larvse 
live parasitically in the nests of spiders and tree-wasps; and while they are at first 
free and active, they afterwards become almost legless, like those of certain beetles. 
The allied family Nemoptevidcv is mainly characteristic of the countries around 
