riON TO 



. and siuklonly enlai 



Myrmclcon. This is a larijc ^enus : Ha-en, in 

 .ibli.shed in : ibcs twenty-five Amcr 



The adult in>i tures, with lon^. nar: 



delicate win^s and slender . The larvaj have broad and 



9 which tap rds each end. The 



i of the mouth-parts lias been described in the ^enerali/ations 

 .rdin^ the I Icmcrobiad;e. The interesting habits of tin 



i acted much attenti the earliest times. They live in 



here they di^ pitfalls for trapping their pivy. In 



making these pitfalls the sand is thrown out by an upward jerk of 



the head, tl: -f the body serving as a shovel. The pits differ 



itly in depth, according to the nature of the soil in which l 



Their sides are as steep as the sand will lie. When an 

 ant, or other winkle ps upon the brink of one of tl 1 



.d crumbles beneath its feet, and it is precipitated into 

 the jaws of the ant-lion, which is buried in the sand, with its jaus at 



\ / 



/ \ 



13. Myrmeleon. 



the bottom of the pit. In case the ant does not fall to the bottom 

 he pit, the ant-lion undermines it by throwing out and 



:i beneath it. I ha\ an ant-lion throw the sand in 



such a way that in falln uld hit the ant and tend to knock it 



I the pit. Tln-M- larvae can be easily kept in a diMl 

 and. and their habits watched. The pupa state is passed in a 

 >pherical cocoon, n ther with silk, and 



fcly lined with the- same matt-rial. This silk is spun from a spin- 

 neret, placed at the caudal end of the body, the caudal part of the 

 alimentary canal beiiiL; transformed into a silk -land. The food of 



