108 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



upon the personality of Mr. Mitchell, and the keenness and relia 

 bility of his observations. Mr. Mitchell, he said, was an ardent 

 naturalist, and had accumulated a large amount of valuable infor 

 mation from his studies of nature. None of these observations, 

 however, had been written out, and Mr. Schwarz, when in Texas 

 last winter, persuaded him to put some of his notes in the form 

 of a paper. Mr. Mitchell complied with his request, and this 

 paper was accordingly presented to the Society with Mr. 

 Schwarz's recommendation that it be published. 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE HABITS OF TWO CICINDELIDiE. 



By J. D. MITCHELL. 



i. Tetracha Carolina. 



In the daytime the males hide under logs, trash piles, dead 

 leaves or bunches of grass ; the females dig for themselves a den 

 just large enough to turn around in, in some well-drained place, 

 always using a weed leaf or grass blade to hide the opening. 

 When they come out in the evening, they hurry to the water's 

 edge, and thrusting their mandibles deep into the moisture, take 

 a long drink. Then they begin their search for food ; they run 

 fast, but erratic in course ; they are very shy. I have never been 

 able to make one eat in captivity. I have observed them capture 

 insects many times, but could not identify the insects captured. 



The sexual season is continuous from June to frost. The 

 female avoids the male, running, dodging and hiding when pur 

 sued by a male. She seldom accepts sexual service without a 

 struggle. The male seizes the female with his powerful pincers, 

 at the junction of the thorax and abdomen, and forces matters 

 with her. The act consists of one insertion of the penis, lasting 

 about two minutes sometimes the male holds on for a second 

 insertion, but that is the exception. The female deposits her eggs 

 always near fresh water, one in a place, a quarter or half inch 

 below the surface of the ground and always in some well drained 

 spot. The young larva digs a hole an inch and a half or two 

 inches deep, and open at the top, bringing the earth in small 

 pellets to the surface in its strong pincers and depositing them as 

 far from the opening as it can without leaving its hole. As the 

 larva grows it digs its hole, larger and deeper, reaching a depth 

 at maturity of twelve to eighteeen inches, according to soil. If 

 an ant, sow-bug or like insect is dropped into their den, it is 

 seized and eaten. I have never seen a larva leave its hole, but I 

 have seen them reach half their length all around the opening. 

 I have dug out full grown larva? on the 2Oth day of January, 



