YOU-EE-OP. 



HARDLY a person living in a sandy country district 

 can be found who has not seen or heard of the queer 

 little insect called You-ee-up, a name which the books do not 

 give, and of which writers on entomological subjects seem 

 to be ignorant. The learned call him Myrmeleon, or Ant- 

 lion, and very appropriately too, because, like the great king 

 of beasts, he never attacks his prey in the open field, but by 

 stratagem while lying in wait in some hidden retreat or 

 secret covert. 



Should you chance, on a warm summer day, where sunny 

 slopes abound on the outskirts of a woods, or by the side of 

 a frequented path or road, look carefully about and soon will 

 you descry a small funnel-like opening, scarce two inches in 

 depth and in width, upon a bare patch of sand in the midst 

 of an ocean of verdure. This little cavity is the intentional 

 work of the larva of the Ant-lion. A very close scrutiny 

 will show, by the presence of a pair of fierce jaws, the Ant- 

 lion at home. 



Would you know the ingenious builder? Lift him out 

 tenderly from his burrow of sand, and when you have placed 

 him upon the palm of your wide open hand, note with the 

 most careful exactness the peculiar make-up of his structure, 

 so that in the future you may have little difficulty in recog- 

 nizing him should you again meet. 



His short, flat head, armed with powerful mandibles, 

 heavy-set chest, and large, soft, fleshy abdomen, amply pro- 

 tected on the sides with stiff, bristly hairs, added to his 

 compact, robust form, the forward projection of his front 



