I 1+ ] 



are (harp, open, and hollow : with thefe he pierces the bodies of In- 

 fects ; with thefe he draws in their juices for his food ; and when 

 that is done, they have an elaftic force, by which they throw the 

 carcafe far away. He retires under ground to feed, and juft rifes to 

 -throw the refufe out of his pit; then repairs its injuries, and waits 

 for the next chance. Thefe pits are about three inches wide ; the 

 creature leaves them, and .makes new ones at his pleafure : and in 

 this ftate he always lives many •months, fometimes two years, before 

 he turns into the Fly, now to be defcrib'd. 



M Y R M E L E O FORMICARUM. 

 THE ANT-EATER FLY. 

 Plate 5.. 

 The Antlers are compos'd of twenty-four joints, and grow larger 

 to the tip. 



This is a large Fly, not fwift in its motions, but fierce and destruc- 

 tive -, even in a degree equal to that of the Reptile, from which it 

 fprings : it plays about the bufhes in the meadows of France and Ita- 

 ly, in the latter part of fummer, and will feize on almofl any tiling 

 it can catch. 



Its Head is of a chefnut brown- 



The Eyes are vaft, and green. 



The Antlers are of a deep brown. 



The Feelers are long, and dufky ; there are four of them. 



The Jaws are yellow, hard, and fharp; and the two Tufks are brown* 



Its Trunk is of a greyirn brown, with a gilded variegation. 

 The Scutcheon is blueifh. 



Its Body is of a pearly grey, deep, and not elegant. 



The Lines or Rings are black. 



The Air-holes are edg'd round with brown. 



Its Legs are fhort, ftrong, and ruddy, with long dark hairs. 



Its Wings are grey -, and in the particular Fly before me, there are 

 four fpots of a dufky brown upon each of the upper ones, and two on 

 each of the under: I fay, in this particular Fly, which is from Italy; 

 for there are more, or fewer, or none, in thofe from other places. 



The Knippers at the Tail are horny, and chefnut colour'd. 



This is the Fly of the famous Fornaicaleo, the Myrmelea Formi* 

 carum of the lateft writers. 



GENUS 



