Page:Insect Literature by Lafcadio Hearn.djvu/232

Rh XX.—Yanagi-Joro, "The Lady of the Weeping-willow." A beautiful, but ghostly name; for the Yanagi-Jorō is the Spirit of the Willow-tree. I find that two very graceful species of dragon-fly are thus called.

XXI.—Seki-i-shisha, "Red-robed Messenger."

XXII.—Yamma-tombo. The name is a sort of doublet; yamma signifying a large dragon-fly, and tombo any sort of dragon-fly. This is the name for a black-and-green insect, called Onjo in Izumo.

XXIII.—Kuruma-yamma, "Wagon Dragon-fly,"—probably so-named from the disk-like appendages of the tail.

XXIV.—Aka-tombo, "Red Dragon-fly." The name is now given to various species; but the insect especially referred to as Aka-tombo by the old poets is a small dragon-fly, which is often seen in flocks.

XXV.—Tōsumi-tombo, "Lamp-wick Dragon-fly." A very small creature,—thus named because of the resemblance of its body to the slender pith-wick used in the old-fashioned Japanese lamp.

XXVI.—Mono-sashi-tombo,—"Foot-measure Dragon-fly." This also is a very small insect. The form of its body, with the ten joint-markings, 註