428 COLEOPTERA. 



early in spring stones can be upturned, ants' nests searched, 

 and the muddy waters sifted for species not met with at other 

 times of the year. 



For beating bushes a large strong ring-net should be made, 

 with a stout bag of cotton cloth fifteen inches deep. This is a 

 very serviceable net for many purposes. Vials of 

 alcohol, a few quills stopped with cork, and close 

 tin boxes for larva? and the fungi, etc., in which 

 they live, should be provided ; indeed, the collector 

 should never be without a vial and box. Beetles 

 should be collected largely in alcohol, and the 

 Fig. 349. colors do not change if pinned soon after being 

 taken. Coleoptera should be placed hif/h iqj on the pin, as in- 

 deed all insects should. The pin should be stuck through the 

 right elytron (Fig. 349) so that it shall come out beneath or 

 between the middle and hind pair of legs. Small species 

 should be pinned with minute pins, which can be afterwards 

 mounted on higher ones. 



CICINDELID^E Leach. The Tiger Beetles have very large 

 heads, much broader than the prothorax, very long curved jaws 

 and long, slender legs. The outer lobe of the maxillae is biar- 

 ticulate, the inner usually terminated by an articulated hook. 

 The eleven-jointed antennae are inserted on the front above 

 the base of the mandibles. They are brownish or 

 greenish with metallic and purplish reflections, marked 

 with light dots and stripes. They abound in sunny 

 paths and sandy shores of rivers, ponds and the 

 ocean, flying and running swiftly, and are thus very 

 Fig. 350. Difficult to capture. The larva? (Fig. 350) are hideous 

 in aspect ; the head is very large with long jaws ; the thoracic 

 rings large and broad, and the ninth ring has two large tuber- 

 cles each ending in two hooks, by which the hunch-backed 

 grub can climb up its hole, near the entrance of which it lies 

 in wait for weaker insects. These holes may always be found 

 in sandy banks frequented by the beetles. 



"While all the species living in the United States are ground 

 beetles, in the tropics there are some which live on trees. H. 

 "VV. Bates states that Ctenostoma and its allies have a greater 



