INSECT AND OTHER STRATEGISTS 105 



close relation which exists between their simultaneous reappearances, 

 for the oil beetle is out on business which, unhappily enough, will 

 prove detrimental to the welfare of the bee's future household. The 

 beetle's reason for climbing among the flowers is to lay her eggs upon 

 their blossoms; an intruder to be sure upon the property which in all 

 nature seems justly and only that of the hard-working bees. In the 

 course of a few days the beetle's eggs hatch out into tiny six-legged 

 creatures, utterly unlike their parents. Later when the Bumble bee 

 comes to gather her store of honey, these active little insects jump 

 upon her back and, clinging fast to her hair, are carried to the nest, 

 where first they eat the bee's own eggs and later the food which she 

 has stored up for her young. 



Another instance of the stratagems of insects in procuring their 

 prey is that of a remarkable insect called the ant lion. 1 It is widely 

 separated from the race of insects which includes the oil beetles, but it 

 is perhaps the most interesting of all preying insect creatures. It is, in 

 reality, the young of a certain nerve-winged insect, somewhat resem- 

 bling a dragon fly. It is about an inch in length, and the outline of its 

 body is more or less triangular, the widest point being at the tail end. 

 It has six powerful legs and the mouth is supplied with two incurved 

 jaws which give the insect a frightful appearance. Its sole food con- 

 sists of the juices of other insects, particularly ants, but on seeing the 

 lion for the first time, it hardly seems possible that it could ever secure 

 a single meal. Its pace is slow and tedious, but worst of all it can 

 walk in no other direction than backwards! What chance would it 

 have with a nervous, fast-moving ant? It could not give chase, and 

 to stay motionless would be equally ridiculous, for its grim appear- 

 ance would be sufficient to impress upon all insect wanderers, the 

 prudence of keeping at a respectful distance! The ant lion's appetite 



1 Myrmeleonidae. 



