THE ANT-LION. 
99 
Our last example of the earth-burrowing insects is a truly 
remarkable one. I allude to the celebrated insect known as the 
Ant-lion ( Myrmeleon formicarins ). In its mature state, it 
presents nothing worthy of remark, except, perhaps, the ele- 
gance of its form, and the delicacy of its wide gauzy wings, 
which much resemble those of a common Dragon-fly. 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 
were it not furnished with some quality which serves it in the 
lieu of speed, it would soon die of hunger. The very look of the 
larva is enough to make the observer marvel as to its method of 
obtaining food. Thick, short, soft, and fleshy, the body is sup- 
ported on six very feeble legs, of which the hinder pair only are 
employed for locomotion, and these can only drag it slowly 
backwards From the front of the head project a pair of long, 
slender, curved mandibles, which give the first intimation that 
the grub has anything formidable in its nature. These mandi- 
bles are curiously made, being deeply grooved throughout their 
length, and permitting the maxillae, or inner pair of jaws, to 
play up and down them. 
Inert and helpless as it may seem, this grub is a ruthless 
destroyer of the more active insects, and, moreover, seldom 
catches any but the most active. Choosing some sandy spot, 
where the soil is as far as possible free from stones, it begins to 
form the celebrated pitfalls by which it is enabled to entrap 
ants and other insects. Depressing the end of its abdomen, and 
crawling backwards in a circular direction ; it traces a shallow 
trench, the circle varying from one to three inches in diameter. 
It then makes another round, starting just within the first circle, 
and so it proceeds, continually scooping up the sand with its 
head, and jerking it outside the limits of its trench. By con- 
tinuing this process, and always tracing smaller and smaller 
circles, the grub at last completes a conical pit, and then buries 
itself in the sand, holding the mandibles widely extended. 
Should an insect, an ant, for example, happen to pass near 
the pitfall, it will be sure to go and look into the cavity, partly 
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