MY HOUSE AND GARDEN 31 



I used at first to suppose that the attacks of the ants 

 were the result of instinctive animosity. I thought that 

 in the ant-lion the ants recognized their natural enemy, 

 their implacable foe ; and certainly the extreme ferocity 

 of their attack did suggest such an explanation. I after- 

 wards came to the conclusion that the ants attacked the 

 ant-lion merely as they did caterpillars and other small 

 insects — for the sake of prey ; for these small ants, 

 though they devour anything, are especially carnivorous. 

 Their attacks, too, on the ant-lions were not more 

 furious, I found, than their attacks on grubs and 

 caterpillars. Besides, as the ant-lion devours the ants 

 only when concealed in his pit, the ants could hardly 

 have identified him with the insects they saw lying on 

 the ground. I may add that it was only the very small 

 varieties of ants that ever attacked the ant-lions ; the 

 larger ants, if they happened to approach, passed by 

 with entire indifference. But these large ants are very 

 little, if at all, carnivorous. 



I have spoken of the rapidity with which the ant-lion 

 outlines and excavates the upper portion of his pit. 

 More remarkable still is the rapidity with which, when 

 on suitable soil, he buries himself beneath it. I have 

 watched an ant-lion as he lay on the ground. My 

 attention has been distracted for a few seconds. When 

 I looked again the ant-lion was no longer on the 

 surface. In this short interval he had concealed himself 

 beneath it. 



