THE ANT-LION. 163 



this larva hides itself under stones, but it often burrows under 

 the muddy banks, and there constructs a very curious habita- 

 tion. If a portion of the mud be carefully removed, it will 

 be seen to be perforated by a series of holes, a few being 

 nearly circular, but the greater part oval, the long diameter 

 being horizontal, in order to suit the peculiar shape of the 

 inliabitant. 



These are the habitations of the Ephemera grub ; and if the 

 block of mud be laid open, so as to exhibit longitudinal sections 

 of the holes, the spectator will perceive that each hole is double, 

 the two tubes lying parallel to each other, and being in fact 

 only one tube bent upon itself 



Mr. J. Eennie, in his " Insect Architecture," mentions a curious 

 modification of these tubes : — " In the bank of the stream at 

 Lee, in Kent, we had occasion to take up an old willow stump, 

 which, previous to its being driven into the bank, had been per- 

 forated in numerous places by the caterpillar of the goat-moth 

 {Gossus ligniperda). From having been driven amongst the 

 moist clay, these perforations became filled with it, and the 

 grubs of the Ephemera found them very suitable for their habi- 

 tations ; for the wood supplied a more secure protection than if 

 their galleries had been excavated in the clay. In these holes 

 of the wood we found several empty, and some in which were 

 full-grown grubs." 



Odr last example of the earth-burrowing insects is a truly 

 remarkable one. It is scarcely possible to conceive any mode of 

 life more curious than that which is passed by the insect which 

 now comes before our notice — a mode of life so strange and 

 unique, that if it had been related by one observer only, no 

 matter how trustworthy he might have been, his testimony 

 would have been rejected by nearly every man of science. I 

 allude to the celebrated insect known as the Ant-lion {Myr- 

 meleon formicariiis). In its mature state, it presents nothing 

 worthy of remark, except, perhaps, the elegance of its form, and 

 the delicacy of its wide gauzy wings, which much resemble 

 those of the common Dragon-fiy. But in its larval condition it 

 is truly a wonderful being. 



Though predaceous, and feeding chiefly on the most active 

 insects, it is itself slow, and totally unable to chase them ; and 



M 2 



