Half hours with insects . PACKARD] INSECTS AS ARCHITECTS. 303 six liiinclrecl individuals, eacli Ijing at the bottom of its Emerton has described, in the American Naturalist(iv, p. 70)), the habits of our Mijnneleo immaculatiis (, with the larva seen from beneath, and the pupa). Itdigs a pit in the sand an inch deep and two inches iu diam-eter. Mr. Emerton thinks the ant lion begins its hole bymaking a circle and afterwards throwing out the sand fromthe centre. In digging he used his flat head and jaws,which were pushed under several grains of sand and thenjerked upwards, throw
Half hours with insects . PACKARD] INSECTS AS ARCHITECTS. 303 six liiinclrecl individuals, eacli Ijing at the bottom of its Emerton has described, in the American Naturalist(iv, p. 70)), the habits of our Mijnneleo immaculatiis (, with the larva seen from beneath, and the pupa). Itdigs a pit in the sand an inch deep and two inches iu diam-eter. Mr. Emerton thinks the ant lion begins its hole bymaking a circle and afterwards throwing out the sand fromthe centre. In digging he used his flat head and jaws,which were pushed under several grains of sand and thenjerked upwards, throwing their load sometimes as far assix inches, and alwa3s far enough to avoid lea\iug a ridgearound the pitfall. When the pit was finished he was en-tirely concealed beneath it, as in Fig. 233, except his jaws, Fig. Ant Lioii and its pit. which were spread apart horizontally at the bottom. Thesurface of the pit being as steep as the sand could be piledup was very easily disturbed, and when an insect venturedover the edge the ant-lion was apprised of it at once by thefalling sand. lie immediately began to throw up sand fromthe bottom, deepening tlie pit, and so causing the sand toslip down from the sides and the insect with it. The ant-lion seized it with his long jaws and held it \^\^ above hishead, until he had sucked all he wanted from it, when hethrew the remainder out of the hole and repaired the . After eating he became more timid and sometimeswould not take a second insect. If, however, several were 15 304 HALF HOURS WITH INSECTS. [Packard. put into the pit at once, lie would bite one after the otheruntil all were killed, before deciding on which to begin. While the grasshoppers do not construct nests, they havevarious methods of securely depositing their eggs either inthe earth or
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectinsects, bookyear1881
