Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v2.djvu/46

 allied to our English L. quadrimaculata. But the resemblance was greater in the small, slender-bodied and slow-flying species, the Agrions, which every lover of rural walks must have noticed in England by river sides. There was one pretty kind with a pale blue ring at the tip of the body which resembled to a remarkable degree a common British species. Although very near akin, neither this nor any of the other kinds, were perfectly identical with European ones. The strikingly peculiar dragon-flies from Tropical America which are seen in our collections are denizens of the forest, being bred in the shady brooks and creeks in their recesses, and not in the weedy ponds of open places. Some of these forest species are strange creatures with slender bodies measuring seven inches in length; their elegant lace-work wings tipped with white or yellow. They fly slowly amongst the trees, preying on small Diptera, and in their flight look like animated spindles; the wings, placed at the fore extremity of the long, horizontally-extended body, moving rapidly and creating the impression of rotary motion.

Whilst resting in the shade during the great heat of the early hours of afternoon, I used to find amusement in watching the proceedings of the sand-wasps. A small pale green kind of Bembex (Bembex ciliata), was plentiful near the bay of Mapirí. When they are at work, a number of little jets of sand are seen shooting over the surface of the sloping bank. The little miners excavate with their fore feet, which are strongly built and furnished with a fringe of stiff bristles; they work with wonderful rapidity, and the sand thrown out be-