The Snake Flies are curious looking creatures with elongated necks, and the female is provided with a very curious, long, curved ovipositor. They are found under bark on tree trunks, both in the perfect and larval state; they are unknown in Australia, but Howard states that an attempt was made some years ago to send living _Raphidians_ from California to destroy codlin moth grubs, but that nothing has been heard of them since. Family 5. Scorpion Flies. PANORPIDAE. These insects have the head turned down in front with the mouth parts forming an elongate beak; large projecting eyes; and slender antennae. The prothorax forms a slender neck to the larger mesothorax; the wings are narrow and somewhat oar-shaped, traversed with a network of veins; the legs are long and slender, except the hind pair, which are thickened on the thighs and stoutly spined; the tarsi are large and coated with a sticky membrane, which assists it in catching flies. At first sight many of them might be taken for crane-flies of somewhat clumsy build; in the European _Panorpa_ the males are furnished with a peculiar anal appendage from which they take the popular name of Scorpion Flies. Members of the Genus _Boreus_ are wingless and resemble tiny grasshoppers; in America they are often found on snow. The family is represented in Australia by _Bittacus australis_, which has a wide range from Tasmania to Queensland, and is very abundant in the early summer, hanging about the leptospermum and ti-tree bushes. It rests among the foliage, with the large hind legs hanging loosely down below but ready to strike out the moment an incautious fly comes within range. The long flexible tarsi fold round the captive with the stout spines transfixing it, while the Bitticus draws its leg round under the head so that it can press its sharp beak into the victim and suck up its blood. Its general colour is reddish brown marked with black; the wings are clouded, narrow, rounded at the tips, and reticulated with fine nervures. Nothing is known about the earlier stages in the life-history of this insect, but specimens in captivity laid a number of flattened bun-shaped eggs which did not hatch out. [Illustration: Plate IX.--NEUROPTERA. Family HEMEROBIIDAE. 1. _Nymphes myrmeleonides_ (Leach). 7. _Porismus strigatus_ (Burm.). Family MYRMELEONIDAE. 2. _Glenurus erythrocephalus_ (Leach). 4. _Glenurus falsus_ (Walker). 5. _Glenurus circuiter_ (Walker). 6. _Glenurus pulchellus_ (Kirby). Family MANTISPIDAE. 3. _Mantispa strigodes_ (Westwood). (Original photo. Burton.)] [Illustration: _Plate IX.--NEUROPTERA._] Family 6. Ant-lions and Lace-wings. HEMEROBIIDAE.