NATURE'S CRAFTSMEN 



It was a curious and amusing spectacle — this odd little 

 creature backing the accurately poised load, larger and 

 heavier than itself, up the shelving sandy wall and out 

 of its domicile, and then returning to put its house in 

 order! Thus the correctness of the early observations 

 of M. Bonnet were confirmed.* 



Even the smallest ants introduced had great difficulty 

 in moving over the wall of the pit, as the sand broke and 

 rolled away beneath the lightest tread. One ant that 

 escaped had a little ball of pellets attached to a hind 

 foot as though caused to adhere by moisture or some 

 viscid substance. Others had minute grains clinging to 

 the delicate hairs of the body at many points. This 

 raised the inquiry: Does the larva purposely secrete a 



COCOON AND LARVA OP ANT-LION 



sticky liquid that produces this effect, and thus aids in 

 hindering the entrapped insect's flight? This seems 

 more probable from the manner in which the larval 



* See Proceedings, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 

 (1882), pp. 258-260. 



138 



