90 LIFE STORIES OF AUSTRALIAN INSECTS. 



victims were made useless by their captors, who i 

 held the prey out of reach of any vital part. At 

 other times the ants were just pulled right under 

 the sand. Should an ant escape, and try to crawl 

 out of the pit, it was rather a comical sight to see 

 the cunning little larva throw showers of sand at 

 it till it tumbled back. Sometimes ants did escape, 

 and often these showed a strange fascination for the 

 pit. We noted one that had escaped, run excitedly 

 to the edge of the pit, run around it, then back- 

 wards and forwards, waving its antennae excitedly, 

 and at last it departed. 



The length of the larval state depends on the 

 food supply. Plenty of food means a short larval 

 period. It can exist without food for very long 

 periods, probably because of the precarious method 

 of obtaining it. 



At last one pupated and formed a beautiful 

 round cocoon, the size of a small marble, which 

 was made from a gummy liquid silk secreted in 

 the tip of the abdomen. This caused the grains of 

 sand to adhere, and thus the little ball was formed. 

 The pupal stage lasts from four to ten weeks. 



On 2 1 St February we happened to look at the' 

 bowl which had been placed in a box, and saw the 

 sand moving. We watched for a little while, then 

 drew the sand aside, and exposed the top of the 

 pupal cocoon. Waiting for about 15 minutes, we 

 saw the little trap door or lid gradually open, and 

 slowly and carefully the adult ant lion arose en- 

 closed in what looked like a delicate membrane, 

 which gave it the appearance of a ghost as it 



