THE TIGER BEETLES. 27 



thl. AnteniKip eleven-jointed; hind coxal plates not covering the fe- 

 mora ; hind legs with fringes of long hairs, usually compressed 

 and formed for vigorous swimming. 



Family IV. DYTISCIDJE, p. 204. 



cc. Eyes four; antennae irregular, very short; abdomen with seven 

 segments ; middle and hind legs forming short, broad paddles. 



Family V. GYRINIMS, p. 23(>. 



Family I. CICINDELID^E. 



THE TIGER BEETLES. 



To this family belong those oblong, predaceous ground beetles 

 which occur for the most part along sandy banks of streams, road- 

 ways and woodjand paths. They are among the most handsome and 

 agile of our beetles, the legs being slender and adapted to running. 

 Most of the species possess inner wings and when pursued they 

 often run swiftly for several feet, then take a quick flight, but usu- 

 ally alight several rods in advance of where they were flushed. 

 Upon alighting they usually turn so as to face the pursuer. 



The antennae are 11-jointed, filiform and slender, inserted on 

 the front above the base of the mandibles, which are long and 

 sharply toothed ; terminal hook of the maxillae movable ; eyes 

 prominent ; tarsi all 5-jointed ; hind coxae mobile and simple. 



The name of the principal genus, Cicindela, is derived from the 

 Latin candela, a candle or taper, and was applied by the ancients 

 to the glowworm. The common name, tiger beetle, portrays well 

 the habits of the mature insect, which is ever eager to seize upon 

 some weaker form of life which will serve it as prey. The name is 

 also suggestive of the stripes or spots with which the elytra of many 

 of the species are marked. The males may be known by their hav- 

 ing the sixth ventral segment broadly notched, so as to expose a sev- 

 enth segment, which is invisible in the female ; and by having the 

 first three joints of the front tarsi dilated and densely pubescent on 

 the under side. 



The larvae of the tiger beetle are whitish grubs, with large, flat, 

 metallic colored heads and long toothed mandibles. They live in 

 vertical burrows in sandy banks, beaten paths and dry plowed 

 fields. These burrows are often a foot or more in depth, and in 

 ^ir upper portion the larva props itself so that the head serves as 

 a plug or stopper for the hole. The prop with which it holds itself 

 in place is a hump on the fifth segment of the abdomen, to which are 



