1983] Conner & Eisner — Capture of honiharclier beetles 177 
Table 1. Summary of the outcomes of all observed encounters between ant lions 
and bombardier beetles in which the beetle “fired” defensive secretion. Beetles were 
more likely to be killed if the ant lion had pulled itself under the sand by the time the 
beetle fired [p <0.001, x2=24.8, 1 d.f., with a continuity correction used (Snedecor 
and Cochran, 1967)]. 
No. Encounters 
Position of Ant Lion 
No. Firings/ Encounter 
Fate of Beetle 
18 
head exposed 
1 
all escaped 
11 
head beneath sand 
2.7 ±1.7 
1 escaped 
(range: 1-5) 
10 eaten 
one of the few other predators known to be able to capture bom- 
bardier beetles is a tabanid larva that lies in wait while semisub- 
merged in mud and feeds on the beetles by catching them by a leg 
and dragging them into the substrate (Nowicki and Eisner, 1983). 
Acknowledgements 
We thank Dr. Lionel Stange for identifying the ant lions, John D. 
Crawford and Stephen Nowicki for comments on the manuscript, 
and the staff of the Archbold Biological Station for hospitality dur- 
ing our stay. 
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