Amy wonders how the larva breathes under water.
Ah, Master Ned, you are laughing too soon. You think insects do not have to breathe, but you are very much mistaken, sir.
Insects do have to breathe.
They would die if they could get no air to breathe.
Some of the dragon fly larvæ have an odd arrangement for breathing under water. They have a sort of syringe in the end of the body, and there are breathing pores or gills in the syringe.
The water goes in and out of this syringe, and the larva breathes as the fish does, by means of its gills.
Yes, May, its gills are in its syringe, which seems very odd,—you see the dragon fly larva breathes at its tail end instead of at its head end.
Mollie thinks it is an upside-down, inside-out sort of a creature anyway. But it knows what it is about.
Ned wants to know how it can get any air to breathe when it lives under water.
The truth is, there is always air mixed in with water, and it is this air the larva breathes when the water goes in and out of the syringe.