180 A BOOK OF INSECTS 



Some years ago an attempt was made to send living 

 Raphidians from California to Australia and New Zealand, 

 where the codlin moth is a great scourge, in the hope that 

 they might become acclimatised and assist fruit growers 

 in their right with the pest. Unfortunately, the attempt 

 proved a failure. 



Relatively few insects set traps for their prey. But 

 this is done by the larvae of some ant-lion flies {Myrme- 

 leonidce). These insects are not represented in Britain, but 

 the common ant-lion {Myrmeleon formicarium) is a well- 

 known European species which has long been studied by 

 naturalists, the first accurate account of its habits having 

 been given by Reaumur. He it was who pointed out the 

 inaptness of applying the name " lion " to a creature 

 which captures its prey by strategy rather than by rapidity 

 and strength. The larva is a strange-looking insect, 

 thick-set and somewhat oval in contour, with a flat head 

 armed with formidable, curved mandibles. It has an 

 ingrained habit of walking backwards, and uses its convex 

 abdomen as a plough. When constructing the pitfall for 

 which it is famous, it usually begins by making a circular 

 groove to correspond with the margin of the proposed 

 excavation. It then ploughs round and round in diminish- 

 ing circles, constantly jerking out the sand with its shovel- 

 like head. The final result is a funnel-shaped hollow, in 

 the bottom of which the maker lies buried with only its ugly 

 jaws exposed to view. Any small insect which chances 

 to run over the edge of the pit slides downward on the 

 yielding sand, its descent being hastened by the ant-lion, 

 which casts up jets of sand upon its victim. When the 

 latter is seized, further struggles are futile, for the pit- 

 maker's jaws are so constructed that when once buried in 

 the tissues of its prey they need not again be opened. 

 " There is no mouth-orifice of the usual character " (writes 



