198 NEUROPTERA, 
the rim ; and then, that the size of the fun- 
nel is according to the age and size of 
the insect ; and that the time spent in 
digging differs just as he happens to he 
hungry or not. 
Mother, Very well; your abridged 
account is quite right. 
This insect, although so voracious as' 
to destroy even its own species, can bear 
a very long fast. Sometimes it eats §o 
great a quantity as to swell to a bulk and 
weight that obliges it to remain motion- 
less in the sand at the bottom of the 
funnel for a great length of time ; yet, 
when it happens that no wandering spi- 
der OT ant falls into the trap, it seems to 
bear hunger with extreme patience : this 
has been ascertained by experiment. A box 
was filled with dry sand, and so covered 
with glass that no insect could get in ; a 
lion-ant was placed there; he immediately 
dug his funnel, took his post, and pa- 
tiently Watched, but watched in vain, for 
several months. 
Lucy. That such a greedy little crea- 
