Only four or five species have been described from Australia; I had a number of specimens sent me from Hobart, Tasmania, the larvae of which were said to be damaging the woodwork down a well. It has been identified as _Eusthenia spectabilis_. This insect was named by Westwood, and is figured in Griffith’s “Animal Kingdom,” (page 348, plate 72). It measures about 2 inches across the outspread wings; its general colour is dark brown, with the fore wings lighter, mottled with brown at the base and the lower half dull red; the hind pair brighter red with the tips blackish. The head is flattened, with long slender many jointed antennae tapering to the tips. The thorax is slender, flattened on the upper surface; the legs stout; and the tip of the abdomen bears two slender jointed tails (setae). This insect is also found in Australia. A second species, _Eusthenia thalia_, is described from Tasmania by Newman; I have one from Gippsland Victoria probably a new species. Several species have been described by Walker (Brit. Mus. Catalogue, Neuroptera 1852) in the typical Genus _Perla_ from Tasmania. Members of the Genus _Cupnia_ are often found upon the snow in Northern Europe. [Illustration: Plate VIII.--NEUROPTERA. Family ODONATA. 1. _Tramea loewii_ (Brauer). 2. _Synlestes weyersii_ (Selys). 3. _Ischnura delicata_ (Selys). 4. _Rhyothemis graphiptera_ (Ramb.). 5. _Orthetrum nigrifrons_ (Kirby). 6. _Diplacodes (Diplax) bipunctata_ (Brauer). Family SIALIDAE. 7. _Chaulcodes guttatus_ (Walk.). (Original photo. Burton.)] [Illustration: _Plate VIII.--NEUROPTERA._] Family 2. Dragon Flies. ODONATA. Everyone has noticed dragon flies that sail and dart about over swamps and rivers, the embodiment of grace and beauty in flying creatures. In England and Australia they are popularly known as “horse-stingers,” a very misleading name, for they cannot sting, and if they frequent the vicinity of horses it is for the sake of the flies or gnats they can capture. In America the country folk know them under the still more peculiar name of “Devil’s Darning Needles,” while the French children, who recognise their beauty and dainty form, call them “demoiselles.” Westwood places the dragon flies in the family _Libellulidae_; but both Kirby and Sharp call them _Odonata_; the former again divides them into the _Libellulidae_ and the _Agrionidae_, and the latter subdivides them into groups with the same characters, namely the _Anisopteridae_ and _Zygopteridae_. The members of the first group are those with the hind pair of wings slightly larger than the front pair, and the second with wings of equal size or the hind pair smaller. Specialists have further subdivided them into seven smaller sub-families containing about 300 genera.