INSTINCT OF THE ANT-LION. 
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697. Among the instincts which direct animals in the 
acquirement of their food, few are more remarkable than those 
possessed by the larva of the Ant-lion ( fig. 266), a small insect 
allied to the Dragon-fly. This larva (fig. 267) is destined to feed 
upon ants and other small insects, whose juices it sucks ; but 
it moves slowly and with difficulty, so that it could scarcely 
have obtained the requisite supply of food, if Nature had not 
guided it in the construction of a remarkable snare, which 
entraps the prey it could not acquire by pursuit. It digs in 
fine sand a little funnel-shaped pit (fig. 268), and conceals 
the Ant-Lion. Fig. 268.— Pitfall of the Ant-Lk n. 
itself at the bottom of this, until an insect falls over its edge ; 
and if its victim seeks to escape, or stops in its fall to the 
bottom, it throws over it, by means of its head and mandibles, 
a quantity of sand, by which the insect is caused to roll down 
the steep, within reach of its captor. The manner in which 
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