Now, Richard, one question at a time, if you please, and the last shall come first because it is easier to answer.
They are called May flies because they often come out in the month of May, though sometimes not until June, and some species are as late as July in appearing.
We shall have to look into the ponds and little streams to discover where they come from.
See, John has scooped up some little speckled grubs out of the mud. Is it possible that they are the larvæ of our fairy May flies? They have a mouth!—see what big jaws for such little creatures.
And what do you suppose they eat?
No doubt they, too, live on animal food.
No doubt they move about in the mud and catch what they can.
You see, John had to dig them up; they like to burrow in the weeds and mud, and some of them even make tunnels of mud in which to protect their soft bodies. Their short, stout legs enable them to dig well.
Their bodies are soft, but their jaws are not. O dear, no!