STRUCTURE OF LARVJE. 165 



supply the place of the muscles with which in the in- 

 sect it is amply provided; hut Merlin, or his suc- 

 cessor, has surmounted greater i)ljstaclcs.'* 



The Jarvit of the drajron-tly do not, however, 

 trust to this mask alone tor surprising their prey, but 

 steal upon it, as De Geer observes, as a cat does 

 upon a bird, very slowlv, and as if they counted their 

 steps; and then, by suddenly unmasking, seize it by 

 surprise: so artful are they that insects, and even 

 small lishes, find it dithcult to elude their attacks. I 



The larva of a very singular insect [Rcdiiviits per- 

 sonalus, Fabr.), which preys upon the bed bug 

 {Cimcx hciiilarius), not being furnished with a mask, 

 is at the pains to construct one, composed of dust, 

 particles of sand, fragments of wool or silk, and simi- 

 lar matter, which makes it assume so very grotesque a 

 figure, tiiat the animal would at first be taken for one 

 of the ugliest spiders. Its awkward motions add not 

 a little to the eH'ect of its odd appearance. It can, in- 

 deed, if it so chooses, move witii considerable speed; 

 but for the purposes of successful hunting, it endea- 

 vours to assume the aspect of an inanimate substance, 

 and hitches along in the most leisurely maimer possi- 

 ble. It only moves one leg at a time, and having set 

 one foot forward, it pauses a little before it brings up 

 the contiguous one, proceeding in the same way with 

 its other legs. It is no less carefully cautjous in 

 moving its antennae, striking, ts it were, first with 

 one, and then, after a short pause, with the other. 

 By means of a camel's hair pencil, or a feather, it is 

 easy to unmask the insect, for, when touched, it usu- 

 ally abandons its covering. 



• Introd. to Ent. iii, 126. t De Geer, ii, 674, 



