152 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore 



deadly precision on the body of the moth, and there is 

 a strong, swift tug as the grub attempts to haul its prey 

 down into the shaft. But this movement is checked by 

 the thread; whereupon the animal, perceiving almost 

 immediately that something unusual restrains its effort, 

 loosens its hold and withdraws like a flash into its 

 retreat; yet not too soon for us to take in certain details. 

 The brief interval of time that the grub clings to the 

 miller reveals the fact that when engaged in its oper- 

 ations it retains a firm grip on the walls of its shaft. 

 Moreover, in so doing, it strikes with an upward thrust 

 of its head accompanied by a sudden lengthening of its 

 body which carries the fore parts and a portion of the 

 abdomen well clear of the hole. This "jack-in-the-box" 

 performance is accomplished, however, not so much by 

 a telescoping of the body as would easily appear, but 

 is largely achieved through its peculiar configuration. 

 If our sight be keen enough it will have been evident 

 that in retracting its body the grub, after a manner of 

 speaking, doubled up on itself, by reason of the S-like 

 shape in which it is roughly bent. 



Now let us dig out the animal to see if anything more 

 is to be learned on this score. Carefully removing the 

 sand at one side of the shaft, we discover as we go 

 deeper that the latter is of a uniform character and 

 without any turns. Here we have a departure from the 

 bore of most sand-dwelling beetles. Generally their 

 gallery has a sharp curve that becomes horizontal near 

 the top. The advantage that that construction offers 

 in keeping the loose, dry, shifting sand from filling up 

 the burrows is obvious. Nevertheless, our Cicindela 

 well knows what it is about in sinking this simple shaft. 



