30 HAUNTS AND HOBBIES 



saw very much exceeded in dimension an ordinary house 

 fly. Still, small as the ant-lions were, to the diminutive 

 ants they must have seemed giants. Nevertheless the 

 ants appeared to regard the ant-lions with no sort of 

 apprehension. On seeing one they immediately attacked 

 it, and without the least delay or hesitation. To be sure, 

 they generally attacked in overwhelming numbers, but 

 it was not their numbers that gave them confidence. 

 The ants attacked with equal boldness when they were 

 few, and, so far as I saw, always successfully. 



On the other hand, the ant-lions showed just as little 

 fear of the ants. They did not flee when the ants 

 approached, nor did they seek refuge by burying them- 

 selves in the sandy earth ; they remained just as they 

 were till the ants came close, and then they gave them 

 the warmest reception. Their weapons were their great 

 jaws, and at each nip of these an ant was left headless. 

 If the attack of the ants had only been confined to 

 the front, with our assistance the ant-lion would have 

 escaped ; but some few of the ants always at the same 

 time approached from behind, and it was their attack 

 that proved fatal. They were so small, and they came 

 on so quickly, that neither I nor the servants perceived 

 them till they were already on the ant-lion's body ; and 

 then it was too late. The ant-lion's jaws could not 

 reach them, nor could we pull them off. To prevent 

 any misapprehension, I think it as well to state that 

 these combats between the ants and the ant-lions were 

 always accidental, and they occurred, notwithstanding 

 all the efforts of myself and the servants to prevent 

 them. 



