^popular Bt'cttcmarj) at giiimatcft $atitre. 25 







BRDSn WATTI.E-BIRD. 



name Goo-gwar-ruck, in which the natives 

 have tried to imitate it. While thus em- 

 it frequently jerks its tail, throws 

 its head, and distends its throat, as if 

 great exertion were required. It breeds in 

 September and three following months : the 

 nest is round, open, and rather small ; it is 

 generally placed in the fork of a small 

 branch; and is formed of fine twigs, lined with 

 fibrous roots. Eggs two, and sometimes three. 

 Banksias are in blossom the greater part 

 of the year ; each flower as it expands is 

 diligently examined by the Wattle-bird, 

 which inserts its long feathery tongue into 

 every part, extracting pollen and insects. 

 It is to be observed that Banksias are not a 

 sign of good land, so that the garrulous note 

 of this species may be taken by the settler 

 as an indication or the sterile and unprofit- 

 able nature of the soil. (Gould's Birds of 

 A ustralia.) 



ANTHOMYZID^J. A general division 

 of the JHuscidcB, composed of species haying 

 the appearance of Common Flies ; the wings 

 not vibratile ; the antennae inserted near the 

 forehead, always shorter than the head, ter- 

 minated by a long or linear joint, with the 

 seta mostly plumose ; the legs are of mode- 

 rate size, and the abdomen composed of four 

 joints. 



ANTHOPHTLA. A name given by La- 

 treille to the fourth family of the Aculeated 

 Hymenoptera (the Bees). 



ANTHROCERID^E. A family of Lepi- 

 dopterous insects, of the section Heterocera ; 

 comprising a rather numerous group of small 

 or moderately sized species, distinguished by 

 their brilliancy of colour and diurnal flight ; 

 having the antennae never terminated by a 

 pencil of hairs, and either simple in both 

 sexes and fusiform, or thickened near the 

 middle : the head is furnished with a pair of 

 ocelli behind the antennas ; the labial palpi 

 are rather small, and the maxillae greatly 

 elongated : the wings are always deflexed in 

 repose, exhibiting in many species a number 

 of denuded spots ; the nervures are very 

 numerous ; the legs are long, with the pos- 

 terior tibiae furnished with four spurs. The 

 caterpillars are of a cylindrical form, gene- 

 rally clothed with short hairs, and without 

 any spine at the hind part of the body : they 

 feed on various leguminous plants, and con- 



siderably resemble those of several of the 

 liombycidce. The pupas are of the ordinary 

 conical form, without any angular promi- 

 nences. The colouring of some of the exotic 

 species of this family is truly beautiful. [See 

 BUHNET MOTH.] 

 ANTHITS. [See PIPIT.] 

 ANTIFATHES. Black Coral. 



ANT-LION. (Jfyrmeleonformicaleo.) A 

 Neuropterous insect which has long been 

 celebrated for its wonderful ingenuity in 

 preparing a kind of pitfall for the destruc- 

 tion of euch insects as happen unwarily to 

 enter it. In its complete or fly state it bears 

 no inconsiderable resemblance to a small 

 dragon-fly, from which however it may rea- 

 dily be distinguished by its antennae, which 

 are hard, and incurvated at the ends. It 



AifT LION. (IJYriMh.i.aON FORMICATED.) 



deposits its eggs in dry sandy situations, and 

 the young larvae, when hatched, begin se- 

 parately to exercise their talent of preparing 

 a very small conical cavity in the sand, which 

 they eflect by turning themselves rapidly 

 round. Under this cavity it lies concealed, 

 ready to rush forward at a moment, in order 

 to seize any small insect that has been so 

 unfortunate, in approaching the edge, as to 

 fall in ; and no sooner has it sucked out the 

 juices of its victim through its tubercular 

 forceps, than it throws it by a sudden exer- 

 tion to some distance. As the larva in- 

 creases in size, it enlarges the hole, which at 

 last becomes about two inches in diameter, 

 its own length being when full-grown about 

 half an inch. It is of a flattened figure, 

 broad towards the upper part, and gradually 

 tapering to an obtuse point : the legs are 

 slender ; the head and thorax rather small 



the tubular jaws long, curved, serrated in- 

 ternally, and very sharp-pointed : it is of a 

 brown colour, beset with numerous tufts of 



dusky hair ; the whole presenting a form 

 bearing some resemblance to a flat-bodied 

 spider. In preparing its pit, it begins by 

 tracing an exterior circle of the intended 

 diameter of the cavity, continuing its motion, 

 in a spiral line, till it gets to the centre, thus 

 making several volutes in the sand, resem- 

 bling the impression of a large helix or snail- 

 shell ; and after having sufficiently deepened 

 the cavity by a repetition of this motion, it 

 smoothes the sides into a regular shape by 

 throwing out the superfluous sand lyi: 

 the ridges, which it effects with sur] 

 address and dexterity. 



The ingenuity and perseverance of tliis in- 

 sect, or rather the admirable instinct it dis- 

 plays, is so amusingly described by Messrs. 

 Kirby and Spence in their " Introduction to 



