The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1899-10-25
An Insect Monster.

One of the most ferocious and in
genious of all the insect tribe is the
ant-lion. This bitter enemy of the
ants is a veritable. monster in form,
but is hardly more than half an inch
long. Its body is fat, and covered
with little lunches of spiny hairs. u
has six legs that look feeble enough
but it has head and pair of jaws Il
are rs formidable, compared to
size, as the eating apparatus Of an
ligator.
Unable to move rapidly or to
the ant-lion gains by strategy whd
delicacies it finds necessary to healtlfV
and happiness. 1t constructs pitfalls
in the sand, down which the unwary
ant slides to certain death. For the
purpose of excavating this trap it
hunts a spot of loose and dry sand,
under the shelter of ledge or old
wall, or at the foot of tree. In such
places ants are sure to be prowling
about.
Having selected a site for the pit
fall the ant-lion traces in the sand
circular furrow about two inches in
diameter. Placing itself on the in
side of this circle it thrusts the hind
part of its body under the sand as
basis of operation. Using one of its
forelegs as a shovel it deposits load
of sand on its head, which is square
and fat. Then it gives its head jerk
which tosses the sand to distance of
several inches outside the circle This.
process is repeated (the insect al
ways moving back ward) until another
furrow is completed. Turning and
moving backward in the opposite
direction from the preceding the third
furrow is completed inside the second
circle. This process is continued un-
til the ant-lion reaches the centre of
the funnel-like pit thus formed. In
shoveling out the sand the insect al
ways digs at the inner side of the circle
and makes the excavation steadily
deeper. If the ant-lion finds pebble
in the way it carefully rolls it onto it's
back and backs out of the pit with it.
Failing in this it digs hole and
buries the troublesome stone. When
the pit is completed it is about two
inches deep in the centre, at which
pot the ant-lion takes its station,
burying all but its terrible jaws from
view.
Pretty soon an ant in search of
food reaches the pit, looks down, sees
two odd,looking prongs in the bottom
and starts to investigate Then the
sand begins to give way and the
frightened ant frantically tries to crawl
ont. II it seems about to succeed in
this design the ant-lion loads its head
with sand and snaps the sand at the
ant. This is done SO rapidly that the
unfortunate ant is struck by volley
after volley of sand and knocked back
into the pit. After the ant-lion has
supped on the juices of its victim it
tosses the carcass out OF the pit, re-
pairs whatever damages may have re-
suited in the capture and calmly awaits
another ant. The ant-lion will not
take dead insect. 1t prefers to do
its own killing.
After two years of this tricky exist
ence this ogre of the pit makes for it.
self Il cocoon OF sand fastened together
and lined with silk of exquisite tex
ture and color. On the outside this
cocoon looks like little ball OF sand
about half an inch in diameter. At
the end of two months the cocoon is
torn open and q large and beautiful
fly resembling a dragon-hy crawls out
and unfolds it's damp wings. Thus
the ferocious creature of this pitfall
becomes a beautiful dandy of the in
sect world, content to fit in the sun
shine few days and die, after having
deposited some eggs that will hatch
out more ant lions.