NOV., '06] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 34 l 



five minutes to devour a house-fly, and for several minutes after 

 the fly had disappeared the beetle stood, chewing and chewing 

 like a cow with a end. Small beetles like a Bembidium for 

 instance, when put in the cage, would be chased and bitten, but 

 no harm done them. They seemed in mortal fear of ants, run- 

 ning away from them and never offering to bite or chase them. 

 They are very thirsty beings, those kept in captivity drank after 

 every feeding; the first thing they did in the morning after 

 emerging from their burrows was to drink, and also at various 

 other times during the day. Their method of drinking is to 

 seize a morsel of moist sand with their mandibles, and with the 

 head thrown back hold it free from the ground and suck the 

 water from it. If the sand was quite wet they would bury 

 their jaws into it almost as deep as their eyes, with the 

 mandibles spread far apart, and drink in that way. A saucer 

 was sunk in the sand in the cage to imitate a pond; at no 

 time was one seen to drink from it. As an experiment one 

 of the beetles was placed in a separate cage where the sand 

 in it had been baked dry, a small glass receptacle easy to drink 

 from and full of water was put on the bottom of the cage, great 

 care being taken that no water was spilled on the sand. The 

 beetle did not drink from it, and died, probably from thirst. 

 The males are very amorous, copulating while in captivity 

 almost constantly. The manner of accomplishing the copulatory 

 act is as follows : The male seizes the female with his 

 mandibles around the lower segment of the thorax, and thrust- 

 ing out his penis, which is exceedingly long for the size of the 

 insect, of a brown color and curved upwards, tries to coax 

 open the female's receptacle. If she is willing, this is a short pro- 

 cess and the penis was thrust in with the utmost vigor its whole- 

 length. A few thrusts are followed by a period of rest, during 

 which the penis is partially withdrawn. This period of resl is fol- 

 lowed by another one of activity, to be again followed by a rest ; 

 this continues for about ten minutes, when the female makes 

 her escape. When the female is not so complacent, she thrusts 

 the end of her abdomen down against the ground to prevent 

 the entrance of the male organ. Then begins a series of 



