278 C. H. TURNER. 



mention is made of the larva using the foreleg to shovel sand on 

 the flat head in the manner described by European and American 

 popular writers. The larva was fed with flies. When given 

 more than one at a time, it would kill all before eating any. It 

 was kept over winter in a warm room. In May it spun its cocoon 

 beneath the sand. In June the adult emerged, leaving half its 

 pupa skin in the cocoon. 



In August, 1871, Birge (2) found a colony of 600 ant-lions, 

 under an overhanging cliff, in Albany County, N. Y. These 

 pits were in a soil composed of fine disintegrated limestone 

 commingled with pebbles and minute fragments of stone. 

 Whenever an insect alighted upon the sides of the pit the ant- 

 lion began to toss up the soil in all directions. 



Moody (14) states that the ant-lion observed by him rests at 

 the bottom of the pit with its jaws only showing, and that it 

 throws up sand at escaping prey. It formed its cocoon June 4 

 and emerged July 8. 



Moffat (13) writes: "Fine loose sand is evidently a necessity 

 of their existence in any locality." He mentions the throwing 

 up of sand when an ant steps on the side of the pit. 



THE PIT. 



Most accounts give the erroneous impression that the pits of 

 ant-lions are formed only in sand. Even in a scientific magazine, 

 Moffat (13) writes, "Fine loose sand is evidently a necessity of 

 their existence in any locality." A loose friable soil protected, 

 more or less, from rain and shielded from chickens and similar 

 insect feeders is all that is needed. It may be anything from the 

 finest dust to coarse sand. In open sheds with dirt floors, under 

 porches where the place is not too dark, beneath low railroad 

 bridges that span sandy, dusty, or cindery ground, under ledges 

 of rock, and beneath the shelter of logs that do not touch the 

 ground at all points are good places to look for them. From 

 time to time, during the past three years, I have had, in my 

 insectary, more than 500 ant-lions. Many of these were ob- 

 tained in Kansas by my friend, Mr. Phil Rau; the remainder 

 were collected in and about St. Louis. The majority of these 

 were found in the loamy clay (loess) that forms much of the top 



