Marvels of insect life ; a popular account of structure and habit . ed ceratina, which nests in the stemsof bramble and lilac. When it metts with this bee it attaches itself to the hairsof her bod\-, and so gets conveved to her not. Taking up its position in the beescell it waits till the bee lays an egg, and then indulges in its first meal. This consistsof the be(>s egg, and it is pro\-ided with long, sharp mandibles, apparently for thespecial pur])ose ot pitrein- the >he]], tor it has no other use for tlum. Ha\ingfinished this repast, and being now hve or days old, it casts its sk
Marvels of insect life ; a popular account of structure and habit . ed ceratina, which nests in the stemsof bramble and lilac. When it metts with this bee it attaches itself to the hairsof her bod\-, and so gets conveved to her not. Taking up its position in the beescell it waits till the bee lays an egg, and then indulges in its first meal. This consistsof the be(>s egg, and it is pro\-ided with long, sharp mandibles, apparently for thespecial pur])ose ot pitrein- the >he]], tor it has no other use for tlum. Ha\ingfinished this repast, and being now hve or days old, it casts its skin, and becomesa littU^ white grub with six feet. Its mandibles have become short and blunt, forits food in this stage is semi]i(|ui(l tlie hone\- >t(»re(l up b\- the bee for the sustenanceof its own grub -and re(piires no cutting. l-i\e da\s later it casts its skin again,and now its jaws are still more blunt and its eyes less prominent, for in the darknessof the bees cell it has no need of them. This phase of its existence lasts five days * Lvtta vesicatoria. 1/ / //;.-;-. ;; -7 V ^ . ; ,. / IliE .t-Lions head of the ant-lion is lure seen niagriilicii seventy times, to show^thejaws and their connections clearly. Then> is no month in the usual sense ofthe word. .MI the food of the aiit-lion is ni-.;;ssarily of a lluid nature, and isextracted from its prey by means of the sharp-pointed, curved mandibles, whost-tips are perforated. The juices of thf victim pass along a groove into tlie closedmoutli ; and the two ribbon-like processes, sliown separated in the photograph,move slightly backwards and forwards in this groo\-e to regulate the flow. the hind-liodw Its main object in this 114 Marvels of Insect Life,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjecta, booksubjectinsects
