ls 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.

Of our more common, typical forms of Dragon flies, we figure a few,
commonly observed during the summer. The three-spotted Dragon fly
(Libellula trimaculata), of which figure 133 represents the male, is so
called from the three dark clouds on the wings of the female. But the
opposite sex differs in having a dark patch at the front edge of the
wings, and a single broad cloud just beyond the middle of the wing.

Libellula quadrimaculata, the four-spotted Dragon fly (Fig. 134), is
seen on the wing in June, flying through dry pine woods far from any
standing water.

[Illustration: 133. Libellula trimaculata, male.]

[Illustration: 134. Libellula quadrimaculata.]

The largest of our Dragon flies are the "Devil's Darning-needles,"
Eschna heros and grandis, seen hawking about our gardens till dusk. They
frequently enter houses, carrying dismay and terror among the children.
The hind-body is long and cylindrical, and gaily colored with bright
green and bluish bands and spots.

[Illustration: 135. Diplax Berenice, male.]

[Illustration: 136. Diplax Berenice, female.]

[Illustration: 137. Larva of Diplax.]

One of our most common Dragon flies is the ruby Dragon fly, Diplax
rubicundula, which is yellowish-red. It is seen everywhere flying over
pools, and also frequents dry sunny woods and glades. Another common
form is Diplax Berenice (Fig. 135 male, Fig. 136 female. The
accompanying cut (137) represents the larva, probably of this species,
according to Mr. Uhler.) It is black, the head blue in front, spotted
with yellow, while the thorax and abdomen are striped with yellow. There
are fewer stripes on the body of the male, which has only four large
yellow spots on each side of the abdomen. Still another pretty species
is Diplax Elisa (Fig. 138). It is black, with the head yellowish and
with greenish-yellow spots on the sides of the thorax and base of the
abdomen. There are three dusky spots on the front edge of each wing, and
a large cloud at the base of the hind pair towards the hind angles of
the wing.

Rather a rare form, and of much smaller stature is the Nannophya bella
(Fig. 138, female). It was first detected in Baltimore, and we
afterwards found it not un