xii CONTENTS. 



"In the swift Tiger and slow Oil Beetles, see the fabled ~hare 

 and tortoise." 



The rapid Clc'mdela^ diverted from its course by the sight of insect prey, exem- 

 plifies anew the old adage, that " the race is not always to the swift" . 201 



45. FOB THOSE WHO ABE NOT OVER-NICE. 



AH the insects of this group, excepting one, consist of Plant Bugs (Pentatomida, 

 Capsidce, &c.) of varied form and colour. The dark, long-bodied insect 

 creeping up the palings, is the Beduvws pcrsonatus, a bug itself, but an 

 enemy, especially in its stage of larva, to our domestic horror Cimex lectula- 

 rius. The Plant Bug, on a branch of Southernwood below, is remarkable 

 for a pair of singularly-shaped antennae, and its wings (not shown in the 

 figure) are of a beautiful violet-blue : the general colour of the insect is a 

 dark olive 202 



" Steeds of mettle and muscle, for a steeple-chase in earnest" 



If chases such as these were never calendared in graver fashion if, as here, the 

 vaulters were but Fleas the chase but "coming off" on paper, the horse 

 might leap for joy, the man rise higher, that is, to his proper place, as an 

 animal of reason and humanity 219 



46. STOBT OF AN OGEE. 



The insect Ogre here represented is the fierce and wily grub of the Ant-lion 

 (Formica Leo}. On the fragment in the foreground it is shown in deformity 

 unveiled, and more backward is seen one of the cleverly-constructed pitfalls 

 in which it is accustomed to lie buried, all but its extended jaws, for the en- 

 trapment of its prey. The globular object towards the left is the puparium, 

 or pupa-case, of this remarkable creature, itself remarkable for the smallness 

 of its size, as compared with that of the imago (winged insect), which is 

 shown in process of emergement from it. In its perfect expansion, it soars 

 above the Ant-lion Fly complete 220 



" Together with the ball tJiey lift Tier on their shoulders.' 1 ' 1 



The Formic heroine (a captive Ant) escapes from the clutches of the Ant-lion 

 Ogre, by concealment in the hollow ball (puparium) of the monster's own 

 weaving 247 



