TERMITID.E ; MYRMELEONIDJE, OR ANT-LIONS. 



159 



FIG. 478. ATROPOS 

 PULSATORITJS. 



the evening or tne night, in great numbers ; they lose their 

 wings before the morning, however ; and the greater part of 

 them, falling to the ground, become the prey of birds, reptiles, 

 &c. The females, however, are sought by the 

 workers, who imprison them in royal chambers, 

 as they have been termed, in the centre of the 

 nest. The abdomen subsequently attains an 

 enormous size, from the quantity of eggs it 

 contains ; and these, when laid, are carefully 

 tended by the workers, and defended by the 

 soldiers. 



741. The little family of the PSOCID^E, or Book-lice, includes 

 a few minute species nearly allied to the Termites, with which 

 they were formerly arranged in one family. They are distin- 

 guished by having their tarsi composed of only two or three 

 joints, and their posterior wings smaller than the anterior ones. 

 They usually live in dark damp places, and under bark. One 

 species, which is destitute of wings (Fig. 478), is found very 

 commonly in old books, and in collections of dried plants, insects, 

 &c. It is said to be capable of producing a sound like the tick- 

 ing of a watch, for which reason the name of the Death-watch is 

 sometimes given to it. The true Death-watch, as already 

 stated, is a species of Beetle ( 712). 



742. Section II. Of the division of Neuroptera in which a 



more complete metamor- 

 phosis occurs, the pupa 

 passing into an inactive 

 condition, the family of 

 MYRMELEONID./E, or 

 Ant-lions, distinguished 

 by their clavate antennae, 

 which are generally ra- 

 ther short, is one of the 

 most remarkable. As 

 the peculiar habits of the 



Ant-lion in the larva state have already been described (ANIM. 



PIIYSIOL. 697), they need not be here dwelt on. When the 



FIG. 479. MYRMF.LEO. 



