Towards the end of summer you will often see dragon flies darting about in every direction.
They seem to come in swarms and I think they usually come where there are ponds or marshes, for in such places there are many gnats and mosquitoes.
Mollie wants to know why it would not be a good plan for people who live where there are many mosquitoes to raise dragon flies?
That is a very sensible idea, Mollie, and it has been tried.
Yes, indeed; some men once collected dragon fly larvæ, and took care of them until they changed into dragon flies.
Then what do you think happened?
As soon as they got their wings, away went those dragon flies,—away and away, without stopping to catch a single mosquito for the men who had taken the trouble to raise them.
The dragon flies will not stay at home.
They fly so fast and so far there is no use raising them.
They are among the swiftest and strongest of insects.