330 



EVOLUTION AND ANIMAL LIFE 



complicated equipment of mouth parts fitted for taking either 

 solid food like pollen, or liquid food like the nectar of flowers. 

 The mosquito has a "bill* composed of six sharp, slender 

 needles for piercing and lacerating the flesh, and a long 

 tubular under lip through which the blood can flow into the 

 mouth. Some predaceous insects, as the praying horse (Fig. 

 38), have their fore legs developed into formidable grasping 

 organs for seizing and holding their prey. 



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PIG. 190. Ant-lion larva plowing its way through the sand (upp.er figure), while an- 

 other is commencing the excavation of a funnel-shaped pit similar to one on right. 

 (Photograph by A. L. Melander and C. T. Brues.) 



For self-protection the higher animals depend largely on 

 the same organs and instincts as for the securing of food. Car- 

 nivorous beasts use tooth and claw in their own defense as 

 well as in securing their prey, but these as well as other animals 

 may protect themselves in other fashions. Many of the higher 

 animals are provided with horns, structures useless in procuring 

 food, but effective as weapons of defense. Others defend 

 themselves by blows with their strong hoofs. Among the 

 reptiles and fishes and even among the mammals, the defensive 

 coat of mail is found in great variety. The turtle, the armadillo, 

 the sturgeon, and gar pike, all these show the value of defensive 

 armature, and bony shields are developed to a still greater 



