The bee., 1884-01-19
A Useful and Unappreciated Insect.

One of the most useful and beneficial in
seets OF the summer season, and one whose
services are least appreciated by the agri-
c1turist, is the common dragon fly. There
are many varieties, comprising an extern
sive and beautiful group of large sized ill.,
seets, rivaling our butterflies in graceful
ness of form and brilliancy of coloring.
while they excel them in rapidity of
| flight. Various popular names have been
| given them In different countries. The
French call them "DemOiselles," the Ger,
mans "GauZe Flies" and "Virgins of the
Water" while among the English they are
known as dragon File" ,""HOrSe Stingers,"
and Devils Darning Needles" The first
OF the English names is very appropriate
to the character of the fly, for among 9TH
er insects, it fully earns its title of Drag
0n.' 1t is not horse stinger" however,
can neither bite, sting nor poison, and as to
o devils darning needle" does not sew up
the mouths OF those children who are Civ
en- to romancing. They are perfectly
harmless to man, and can be handled
without danger.
The dragon fly belongs to the Orde
"NeurOptera" and the family "Libellulide.'
erage specimens the body attains the length
of an inch and half or two inches. They
are almost universally dressed In gayest
colors. The body is variously banded with
rich shades of blue, green and yellow, and
the wings give off the most beautiful in
descent and metallic reflections The sub
stance of the wings is delicate network,
covered by thin, transparent membrane,
combining great strength with lghtness, |
which enables it to fly and dart upon its |
prey with the greatest rapidity. The long
tail, or needle" undoubtedly, acts as a |
rudder to its steady flight. The large head
is provided with two enormous compound
eyes, composed of many thousand facets, |
and their great power of vision is still fur
ther increased by three simple eyes, or oc-
ELI, on the upper portion of the head. The |
mouth is quite formidable structure. The /
upper lip is broad and conceals powerful /
tOOthed mandibles, and there are other
organs of the mouth armed with strong
teeth which enable it to rend and masti-
cate its food.
The natural term of life of the dragon
fly is about one year. Most of it's exist
ance is passed in the water in the cOndi-
tiOn of larva or pupa, and it inhabits the
air only three or four weeks. When about
to complete its final transformation, the
pupa climbs up some suitable place near
the surface of the water, attaches itself
firmly to some object, and in short time
the skin opens along the back, and from
the rent there soon appears the perfect
dragon fly, who, after drying his wings,
trusts his untried pinions with the fullest
confidence to the new element, in which
be lives but few short summer days.
Tennyson beautifully describes these
changes in the 1.-TWO Voices"
To-day I saw the dragon fly
Come from the wells where he did lie
An inner impulse rent the veil
Of his old husk; from head to tail
Came out clear plates of sapphire mail.
He dried his wings like gauze they grew
Through crofts and pastures wet with dew {
A living flash of light he flew"
During its existence of three or four
weeks above the water its whole life is q {
continued good to man. 1t hawks over :
pools and fields and through gardens, de-
cimating swarms of mosquitoes, flies, gnats l
and other baneful insects Their rapid :
flight and enormous range of vision enable
them to capture these insects with ease. 1
They destroy multitudes of moths and
millers whose Larvae are injurious to yege- |
tatiOn, while they do not injure any pro- '
duct of the agriculturist themselves. A few {
Of them shut into house, would very soon
rid it of fies bugs and mosquitoes. They c
ire perfectly harmless, and can be hand
elded with impunity, and are an interest
ing subject for study, as there still remains s
much to be learned OF their natural history j
The dragon fly is widely distributed over s
Ill parts of the globe, but few, however I
exceed in size or beauty those of our own
COUNTRY. /