Dragon-flies and Damsel-flies 
77 
wingless creatures from half an inch to two inches long. Occasionally 
one of these creatures suddenly darts forward by spurting water from 
the hinder tip of its body; occasionally one quickly thrusts out from 
its head a vicious pincer-like organ which is more slowly withdrawn, or 
rather folded up, with an unfortunate tiny water-animal squirming in the 
toothed pincers. Still dragons, though now dragons of the deep instead of 
flying dragons, these are our insects in their immature or larval life. Their 
Fig. 112.—Young (nymph) dragon-fly, showing lower lip folded and extended. (From 
Jenkins and Kellogg; twice natural size.) 
prey, consisting of water-bugs, May-fly larvae, small crustaceans, mol- 
lusks, and any of the numerous aquatic insect larvae, including other 
young dragon-flies, is probably always caught alive. Not by active 
pursuit, as in the air above, but by lying in wait in the murky depths 
of the pond until the unsuspecting insect comes within reach of the 
extensible lower lip with its pair of broad spiny, jaw-like flaps at the 
clutching tip. The fierce face of the young dragon, with its great 
mouth and sharp jaws, is all concealed by this lip when folded up, 
and there is little in the appearance of the dirty, sprawling, smooth¬ 
faced creature to betray its dragon-like character. But appearances in 
the insect world may be as deceptive as in our own, and too late the 
careless water-bug out on a foraging swim for lesser prey finds himself in 
range of a masked battery and becomes the preyer preyed upon. 
About three hundred different species of dragon- and damsel-flies 
(damsel-flies are the smaller, slender-bodied, narrow-winged kinds, see Fig. 
113) are known in North America, about two thousand having been found 
in all the world. In any single locality where conditions are at all favor¬ 
able to dragon-fly life, that is, where there are live streams and ponds, from 
a score to two or three times as many different dragon-flies can be found. 
One hundred species occur in Ohio, and one hundred and twenty in New 
York, states offering specially favorable natural conditions for them, while 
only about fifty species have been found in California, a much larger but 
more arid region. The young of no dragon-fly species is known to live in 
salt water, although nymphs have been found in brackish water and in 
