The young Odonata are not like their parents, excepting that they have a
head, a thorax with six legs, and an abdomen. But they certainly do not
look like their parents!
No, John, the May flies do not belong to the Odonata. Their wings are
quite different.
[Illustration]
Do you not remember how small the hind wings are?
The name of their order is EPH-E-MER-I-DA.
There is a big name for a little insect!
It comes from the Greek word _ephemeros_, and you know what it means.
What? Has everybody forgotten about the dainty little ephemeræ, that
live but a day?
That is what _ephemeros_ means, lasting but a day.
The stone flies have four wings, but they are not like those of the
Odonata, or of the Ephemerida.
Do you remember how the hind wings are folded?
Yes, May, in plaits, so these are the plaited wings, or
PLE-COP-TE-RA, from _pteran_, a wing, and _plecos_, plaited.
The little silver fish, as you remember, has no wings at all,
so its order is called THY-SA-NU-RA, from its bristle tail,
_thysanos_, in Greek, meaning a tassel, and _oura_, the tail.