NF.UROPTERA. 
183 
of these larvae, and place them in a basin of sand, and 
watch them build their pits. They do this by using the head 
for a shovel. Sometimes when an ant seems likely to escape, 
the Ant-lion will throw up a torrent of sand so that it will 
descend on the victim, knocking it back into the pit. 
When ready to change to a pupa the Ant-lion makes for 
itself a little, round cocoon of sand fastened together and lined 
with silk. The adult Ant-lion is a graceful insect with long, 
narrow, delicate wings, and a slender body (Fig. 222). 
Fig. 222.—Larva, cocoon with pupa-skin projecting, and adult of an Ant-lion. 
Certain members of this family differ from the ant-lions 
in having long, filiform antennas, which are suddenly en¬ 
larged at the end. These belong to the genus Ascalaphus 
(As-eal'a-phus). 
