It is rather a clumsy creature in spite of its large wings, and John says he had no trouble whatever in catching it.
See, it has four wings, and the hind ones are the larger.
Yes, May, they fold up in plaits, like the sticks of a fan.
See its long antennæ and its compound eyes. Its eyes are not so large as are those of the dragon fly. It does not spend its time pursuing other insects, but is more like the May fly after it gets its wings.
Yes, Ned, it lives longer than the May fly, but it does not live very long, and it eats little.
It is a pretty little gray thing as it rests on the side of John's box, with its wings folded like a gossamer cloak over its body.
It lays its eggs in the water, and out of them hatch little six-legged larvæ that are not troubled by want of appetite. If the winged stone fly does not eat, its larva does; it is like the other larvæ we know, always devouring something.
Yes, Charlie, it feeds on living creatures, greatly relishing the larvæ of the May flies, or any other luckless insect infants it can capture.