Here is our little Lacewing.
[Illustration]
May says it is a darling, like a woodland fairy clad all in green.
And, oh, its eyes! Are they not beautiful? They shine like gold.
Do its wings not remind you a little of the wings of the corydalus?
May says no, indeed; that has ugly brown wings.
But look again, May. See how these wings are veined, and do you not
remember how you admired the silvery wings of the corydalus when we
spread them out?
Yes, it belongs to the same order as the corydalus.
The name of the insect order to which they both belong is Neuroptera,
from _neuron_, a nerve, and _pteron_--who remembers what _pteron_ means?
Yes, a wing. Nerve-winged.
What does that mean?
It means that the wings are crossed by many nerves or veins. Yes, that
is what gives them their lacelike appearance.
Pretty golden eye, why do we not oftener see you on the trees and
bushes? It is only by accident we found you to-day, down in the grass.
The truth is, this pretty fairy hides by day and comes out at night to
lay its eggs. Like the May fly, the adult lacewing does not eat. It is a
helpless little beauty, though it has one powerful means of defence, as
you will discover if you touch it.
Ah, yes; you have already detected it! It gives forth such an offensive
odor that nothing, one should think, could have the hardihood to eat it.
May says she supposes the larva of the lacewing is a little monster like
that of the corydalus.
But you will not expect to find it as large as a dobson.