This may be thought a scene of sad carnage, but the following will, perhaps, appear even more so. What should we say, if deep in the forests of some wild uncultivated country was found a den, the bottom of which was strewed with skulls, with bones, and mangled limbs? What fearful scenes should we not suspect to have taken place in this dark and horrid place; and as we shuddered in looking round upon its walls, as the once witnesses of terrible deeds, we might even fancy we heard the cry of the poor traveller, whose last agonies were seen by no eye but that of the monster who had waylaid and murdered him? Such a den may be found in the forest, made horrible by the cut-off heads, limbs, and wings of insects--it is the habitation of the carnivorous larva of a wasp. Nay more, as is seen in the engraving, the insect monster actually works up the cut-off wings and limbs into a sort of covering for itself, and finally buries itself in a shroud partly made of the spoils of former victims. [Illustration: _The Larva of a Wasp in its coat of wings and limbs._] Perhaps the carnivorous larva of the tiger-beetle, or _cicindela_, is as ferocious a being as any in this state. In this respect, indeed, it resembles the perfect insect, whose title sufficiently indicates its swiftness, cunning, and blood-thirsty nature. "These larvæ," writes Mr. Westwood, "burrow cylindric retreats in the earth, to the depth of a foot or more, employing their legs and jaws in loosening the particles of sand and earth, which they carry to the surface upon their broad, saucer-like head, ascending by the assistance of the two hooks upon the back, somewhat after the fashion of a sweep going up a chimney! Having completed this burrow, they station themselves, by means of their legs and back hooks, at its mouth, their large flattened head and great segment filling the hole." Here they remain all day long, and many an insect might pass close by, little dreaming of the terrible foe who lay under that trap-door. Presently comes a spider scrambling over the ground in haste to mount up a branch on which to hang one of its web lines; the treacherous trap-door is in its direct path. Its feet rest on it; instantly the trap drops, and the poor insect falls into the dark den, and is caught in the powerful jaws of the artful larva. Truly, there is something even to man a little intimidating in the sight of such a monster as is represented here; how much more to the unfortunate insect who happens to be caught in its embrace, and having only time to just catch a glimpse of its fearful captor, is dragged down in a cloud of dust to be devoured in darkness at the bottom of the den. Yet this also, like other cruel creatures, is in reality a very timid larva, and instantly on the approach of danger, drops to the bottom of the cell, where, if we have courage to pursue it, we shall find it much in the attitude in which it is here represented. The