v ADEPHAGA TIGER-BEETLES 2OI 



itself the family Amphizoidae. The Bombardier-beetles make an 

 exception as regards the abdominal structure, for in some of them 

 no less than eight segments are visible, either along the middle 

 line or at the sides of the venter. In Hydroporides (one of the 

 divisions of Dytiscidae) the front and middle feet have each only 

 four joints. Many naturalists unite the Gyrinidae with the 

 Adephaga, and a few also associate with them the Paussidae and 

 Ehyssodidae ; but we think it better at present to exclude all 

 these, though we believe that both Paussidae and Rhyssodidae 

 will ultimately "be assigned to the series. The larvae are usually 

 very active, and have a higher development of the legs than is 

 usual in this Order. Their tarsi possess two claws. 



Fam. 4. Cicindelidae (Tiger -beetles). Clypeus extending 

 laterally in front of the insertion of the antennae. Lower lip with 

 the palpi usually yreatli/ developed, but with the liijula and pam- 

 f/lossae very much reduced, often .sr^/w/// to be detected. M/i.i'illni' 

 with the outer lobe form in*/ a tiro-jointed palp} the inner lobe 

 elongate, furnished t the tip with a hook-like process, which is 

 usually articulated by a joint ////// f//c lobe itself. The tiger-beetles 

 are very active Insects, running with extreme speed, and some- 

 times flying in a similar manner ; they are all predaceous, and 

 amongst the most voracious and fierce of the carnivorous beetles, 

 so that they well deserve their name. Bates, speaking of the 

 Amazonian Megacephala, says " their powers of running exceed 

 anything I have ever observed in this style of Insect locomotion ; 

 they run in a serpentine course over the smooth sand, and when 

 closely pursued by the hand they are apt to turn suddenly back 

 and thus baffle the most practised hand and eye." He further 

 says that the species he observed (being of diverse colours) 

 a "'reed in colour with the general colours of the " locale thev 



O f 1 



inhabit." The larvae of Cicindelidae live in deep burrows, sink- 

 ing more or less vertically into the ground, and in these they 

 take up a peculiar position, for which their shape is specially 

 adapted; the head and prothorax are broad, the rest of the body 

 slender, the fifth segment of the abdomen is furnished on the 

 back with a pair of strong hooks ; the ocelli on the sides of the 

 head are very perfect. Supporting itself at the top of the burrow 

 by means of these hooks and of its terminal tube, the larva blocks 

 the mouth of the burrow with its large head and prothorax, and 



1 In Theratides this outer lobe is in a rudimentary state, like a seta. 



