THE ANT-LION. (Myrmeleon formicarium.)
This insect is hatched from an egg laid in soft moving ground, or sand; the larva soon increases in size, and assumes the shape of a small spider—with this difference, that the legs are constructed in such a way that it can only proceed backwards or sideways. The abdomen is very large and fleshy; and the head, which is small, is armed with two long jaws like horns, somewhat resembling those of the stag-beetle. What must create our utmost admiration is, that this insect, which can only move in a retrograde direction, is doomed by nature to feed upon flies and ants, the quickness and agility of which would at all times deprive him of his prey were he not endowed with an uncommon instinct, which prompts him to the following stratagem:—He makes a kind of funnel-shaped hole in the loose earth or sand, and, placing himself at the bottom of it, waits there with the utmost patience, till an incautious ant or giddy fly falls into the deathful pit. Then all his skill is put in requisition; he throws out, by the shaking of his large jaws, a great quantity of sand upon the insect, to prevent its climbing up the steep sides of the hole; and when the prey appears strong and nimble, he gives such a general commotion, that the whole construction crumbles down, and the unfortunate insect, overwhelmed with the ruins, falls into the jaws of the Ant-lion, which open like a pair of forceps. When the Ant-lion has sucked out the blood and inside of his prey, he takes it upon his head, and, by a sudden jerk, throws the carcase to a distance from his abode. When the larva has attained its full size, it spins for itself a cocoon of white shining silk, with an external covering of sand. In about three weeks there bursts from this pupa case a slender-waisted winged insect, which, after fluttering about for a few weeks, and depositing eggs in the sand, resigns its life. The winged insect resembles a beautiful dragon-fly; it has a head of a chestnut colour; the body is of a pearly grey, the legs short, and the wings, which resemble the finest lace, are beautifully marked with dark lines and spots. This fly is often seen fluttering about the sides of roads and dry banks exposed to the east, in the months of June and July; it continues for a little time, and then entirely disappears. The Ant-lion is not found in this country; but in the south of France and Italy there is not a bank on the sides of a public road, or a sandy ridge at the foot of an old wall, which does not harbour a great number of these insects.
THE GREAT DRAGON FLY. (Libellula grandis.)
This genus of insects is well known to every one. The larva lives in the water, and wears a kind of mask, which it moves at will, and which serves to hold its prey while it devours it. The pupa closely resembles the larva in its form, except that at the sides of the body the wings are seen enclosed in thin cases. The period of transformation being come, the pupa goes to the water-side, and fixes on a plant, or sticks fast to a piece of dry wood, in which position it remains for some little time, when the skin of the nymph splitting at the upper part of the thorax, the winged insect issues forth gradually, throws off its slough, expands its wings, flutters, and then flies off with gracefulness and ease. The elegance of its slender shape, the richness of its colours, the delicacy and resplendent texture of its wings, render it a beautiful object. It is in length about four inches.