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422 THE INSECT WORLD. 
case of the Ejihemere do the duty of fins. The pupa already 
presents stumps of wings. To effect its metamorphosis it drags 
itself out of the water, where it has lived for nearly a year, 
climbs slowly to some neighbouring plant, and hangs itself 
there. Very soon the sun dries and hardens its skin, which 
all of a sudden becomes bright, and cracks. The dragon-fly then 
sets free its head and its thorax, and its legs, its wings, still soft and 
wanting in vigour, gain strength by coming in contact with the 
air, and, after a few hours, they have attained their full develop- 
ment. Immediately the insect abandons, like a worn-out suit, the 
dull slimy skin which had covered it so long, and which still pre- 
serves its shape (Fig. 393), and dashes off in quest of prey. 



Fig. 394 —Libellula depressa, the Common Dragon-fly. 
The Libellulas are common all over the world. Their type is 
the Libellula depressa (Fig. 394), very common in Europe. The 
male is brown, with the abdomen blue underneath; the female, of 
a sort of olive-yellow, bordered by yellow on the sides. Both 
have the abdomen broad and flattened. 
The shna, with a cylindrical abdomen, attains to the length 
of two and a half inches. Its flight is more rapid than that of the 
swallow. The Calepteryx flies more slowly. The male is of a 
metallic blue, its diaphanous wings are traversed by a band of 
greenish blue; the female, of a bronzed green, has wings of 4 
metallic green, with a yellowish mark on the edge. These insects 
rest on reeds, retaining their wings in a vertical position. 

