FOOD OF INSECTS. 4-27 



well as the Indian : and, however to our weak capacity 

 the great law of creation " eat or be eaten" may seem 

 cruel or unnecessary, knowing as we do that it is the 

 ordinance of a beneficent Being, who does all things 

 well, and that in fact the sum of happiness is greatly 

 augmented by it, no man, who does not let a morbid 

 sensibility get the better of his judgement, will, on ac- 

 count of their subjection to this rule, look upon preda- 

 ceous animals with abhorrence. 



One more instance of the stratagems of insects in pro- 

 curing their prey shall conclude this letter. Other ex- 

 amples might be adduced, but the enumeration would 

 be tedious. This, from an order of insects widely dif- 

 fering from that which includes the race of spiders, is 

 perhaps more curious and interesting than any of those 

 hitherto recited. The insect to which I allude, an in- 

 habitant of the south of Europe, is the larva of a species 

 of ant-lion (Myrmcleon, L.), so called from its singular 

 manners in this state. It belongs to a genus between 

 the dragon-fly and the Hemerobius. When full grown 

 its length is about half an inch : in shape it has a slight 

 resemblance to a wood-louse, but the outline of the body 

 is more triangular, the anterior part being considerably 

 wider than the posterior : it has six legs, and the mouth 

 is furnished with a forceps consisting of two incurved 

 jaws, which give it a formidable appearance a . If we 

 looked only at its external conformation and habits, we 

 should be apt to conclude it one of the most helpless ani- 

 mals in the creation. Its sole food is the juices of other 

 a Plate XIX. Fig. S 



