66 MY STUDIO NEIGHBORS 



found my fish at its tip, from which he quickly 

 dropped to the ground. His singular identity is 

 shown in my illustration — an uncouth nondescript 

 among grubs. His body is whitish and soft, with 

 a huge hump on the lower back armed with two 

 small hooks. His enormous head is now seen to 

 be apparently circular in outline, and we readily 

 see how perfectly it would fill the opening of the 

 burrow like an operculum. But a close examina- 

 tion shows us that this operculum is really com- 

 posed of two halves, on two separate segments of 

 the body, the segment at the extremity only being 

 the true head, armed with its powerful, sharp, curved 

 jaws. As he lies there sprawling on his six spider- 

 like legs, we may now easily test the skill of his trap, 

 and gain some idea of his voracious personality. 



If with the point of our knife-blade, holding it 

 in the direction of the insect's body, we now touch 

 its tail, what a display of vehement acrobatics! 

 Instantly the agile body is bent backward in a 

 loop, while the teeth fasten to the knife-blade with 

 an audible click. If our finger-tip is substituted 

 for the steel, the force of the stroke and the prick 

 and grip of the jaws are unpleasantly perceptible. 



In order to fully comprehend the make-up of 

 this curious cave-dweller we must turn biologists 

 for the moment. He must be considered from 



