HOLES IN THE SAND 
185 
first sight, apparently so awkwardly made, every part is so marvellously 
formed for the purpose intended that we cannot fail to admire it. 
When full grown and stretched out it is f-inch long, with a broad, 
fiat, black head /jin. wide at the back, having very powerful mandibles, 
curved upwards and inwards; the body is white, tinged with brown on 
the back of the second, third, and fourth segments, the skin on this 
part being very hard ; the rest of the body is very delicate and easily 
torn ; the back of the ninth segment is swollen up into a hump, bend¬ 
ing slightly back, surmounted by two peculiarly curved hooks, about 
/jin. long, bending towards each other at the middle, and out again at 
the tips which point towards the head, which is “ set on” at a right 
angle to the body, the mandibles also rising from the head at almost a 
right angle, but curved over and in, not unlike the horns of some cows. 
The head is flattened out into a hard plate, the purpose of which is 
apparent almost directly the larva is placed in a pot of fresh sand. 
When after surveying the surface, and snapping at imaginary foes, it 
places its feet firmly in the sand, and commences to excavate with 
its strong mandibles, first taking a good bite, it turns the sand over on 
to the fiat head, and when loaded, withdraws from the hole, and the 
mandibles being placed at right angles to the head, prevent the sand 
from slipping off. On reaching the surface it shoots its load to one 
side, then proceeds to deepen the hole, generally bringing up a load of 
sand at every quarter of an inch additional depth. When it has bored 
to nearly its own length it retains its hold at the top by its anus, but 
when a greater depth has been reached the wonderful hooks on the 
back of the ninth segment come into play, and now we see why they 
point towards the head ; for besides being used for holding on to the 
sides whilst excavating, they enable the creature to lever itself up 
backwards with its load of sand, for we must remember that beetles 
have but three pairs of legs, a pair on the second, third, and fourth 
segments, and which are in this case comparatively useless in assist¬ 
ing it in its arduous excavations. When it has bored some two inches 
deep it turns in its hole and has a rest, but in a strange zigzag position; 
the broad flat head is brought up just to the top of the hole, and, as 
might be imagined, begrimed with sand, making it the exact colour 
of the bank, so that anyone watching quietly would have great 
difficulty ill detecting anything, until by a sudden movement the larva 
collapses, and falls to the bottom of its hole like a shot. When the 
head is placed in position the body is bent at the fifth segment, the 
sixth to ninth segments are drawn up, the ninth with the hooks on 
resting just below the plate on the head, the remaining four segments 
bent down again, thus the whole larva when in position resembles the 
letter N ? here it remains perfectly still, until some innocent ant 
walks upon the sand-begrimed head, and in an instant the head is 
thrown back, just in the same manner as a gymnast about to turn 
a “ flip-back,” the powerful mandibles completely enclosing the 
unfortunate ant, who finds herself suddenly seized from above, and as 
quickly hurled into darkness below by this terrible “tiger.” After a 
