THE " GIANT GRIM*' OF INSECTS. 



99 



Yet its food is the juice of insect bodies. How, 

 then, is it to seize upon them circumstanced so 

 unfavourably as it is, having neither swiftness nor 

 ability to direct its motions sufficiently actively to 



An Ant-lion in its Trap. 



fit it for such a task ? It succeeds by an artifice of 

 the most refined character. Nothing daunted by 

 what we might call its natural disadvantages, the 

 insect sets bravely to work to construct a trap for its- 

 prey ; and the manner in which this is performed 

 may well strike us with wonder, and raise our 

 admiration up to Him who has so marvellously 

 endowed this humble being with wisdom and skill. 

 It first takes care to choose out a proper site for 



