56 Bibliographical Notices. 



they are 4-jointed, the basal joint being very short : the lower lip is 

 very large and membranous, covering the under side of the mouth ; 

 it is quadrilobed and furnished within with a broad tongue, of which 

 the anterior angles are produced and pilose ; the labial palpi arc 

 broad and 3-jointed." 



The account of the proceedings of the Ant-lion may be taken as 

 an example of the manner in which the ?iatural history of the various 

 families is treated : — 



" It is in very fine sand that the larva makes its pitfall. When 

 placed upon the surface, it bends down the extremity of the body, 

 and then pushing, or rather dragging, itself backwards by the assist- 

 ance of its hind legs, but more particularly of the deflexed extremity 

 of its body, it gradually insinuates itself into and beneath the sand, 

 constantly throwing off the particles which fall upon, or which it 

 shovels, with its jaws or legs upon its head, by suddenly jerking 

 them backwards, 



' Ossaque post tergum magUce jactata parentis.' 



" Proceeding in this manner, in a spiral direction, it gradually di- 

 minishes the diameter of its path, and by degrees throws so much of 

 the sand away, as to form a conical pit, at the bottom of which it 

 then conceals itself, its mandibles, widely extended, being the only 

 parts that appear above the surface ; with these, any luckless insect 

 that may happen to fall down the hole is immediately seized and 

 killed. When the fluids of the victim are exhausted, the Ant-lion, 

 by a sudden jerk, throws the dry carcass out of the hole ; should, 

 -however, the insect by chance escape the murderous jaws of its 

 enemy, the latter immediately commences throwing up the sand, 

 whereby not only is the hole made deeper and its sides steeper, but 

 the escaping insect is probably hit, and again brought down to the 

 bottom of the pit. It is chiefly upon ants and other soft-bodied in- 

 sects that these larvte feed. They are, however, capable of under- 

 going long fasts, for one of my larvae remained from October till 

 March without food. It has been supposed that, as the food of these 

 larvae consists entirel}'^ of juices, and as they apjjear to be destitute 

 of anal aperture, the whole of their food is assimilated. M. L. Du- 

 four has, however, traced the intestinal canal terminating in an anus, 

 which is, indeed, very difficult to discover. (Ann. Soc. Ent. de 

 France, tom. ii. p. 67. App.) Latreille states that these larvae are 

 produced in the summer or autumn, and become pupae in the follow- 

 ing spring. I found the larvae of all sizes in July, one of which 

 became a pupa, and assumed the perfect state ; whilst another, of 

 equal size, remained through the winter in the larva state. Previous 

 to assuming the pupa state, the larva forms a globular cocoon of less 

 than half an inch in diameter of fine sand, glued with silken threads 

 spun from a slender telescopic-like spinneret placed at the extremity 

 of its body, and lined with fine silk. The pupa is small, not being 

 half an inch long, inactive, and with all its limbs laid at rest upon 

 the breast. When ready to assume the perfect state it uses its man- 

 dibles, which are quite unlike those of the larva and imago, and 



