The _Panorpatæ_ constitute a singular little family, having a peculiar shaped head, which is prolonged to a sort of long and slender beak. Aristotle called them Scorpion Flies, and thought they were winged scorpions. The _Panorpas_, properly so called (Fig. 410), are found on hedges and plants during the summer. They have slim bodies spotted with yellow and black, and four straight wings, also spotted with black. In the males the abdomen terminates in a pair of pincers (Fig. 411), which rather remind one of the tail of a scorpion, and which are destined to seize their prey, which they kill by piercing with their beak. The female lays her eggs in the ground (Fig. 412). In a week the larva makes its appearance; it is a month in developing, it then buries itself still deeper in the earth, and changes into a pupa, which, after a fortnight, comes again into the light in the form of a perfect insect. There are two other genera of _Panorpatæ_, of which _Bittacus tipularis_ (Fig. 413), resembling a large gnat, furnished with four wings, and _Boreus hyemalis_ (Fig. 414), of a brilliant black, met with in Sweden and in the elevated parts of the Alps, jumping about on the snow in considerable troops--are representatives. The latter has been found in England. [Illustration: Fig. 411.--Pincer of male Panorpa.] [Illustration: Fig. 412.--Female Panorpa laying.] [Illustration: Fig. 413.--Bittacus tipularis.] [Illustration: Fig. 414.--Boreus hyemalis (magnified and natural size).] [Illustration: Fig. 415.--Larva of Phryganea rhombica.] [Illustration: Fig. 416.--Phryganea rhombica, in repose.] [Illustration: Fig. 417.--Phryganea rhombica.]