THE CANADIA.N ENTOMOLOGIST. 107 



In nn case can I find any evidence to warrant the belief that any of 

 our native forms are double-brooded, and it seems highly probable that 

 the same could be said of all North American Cicindelid?e. From my 

 iiuesiigations 1 was inclined to tliink that no specimens emerged from 

 pupae in the springtime, but Mr. E. D. Han is writes that he has collected 

 specimens in the early spring that "bear unmistakable evidence of very 

 recent emergence from the pupa condition," and he suggests that these 

 are belated specimens which failed to appear at the usual time in the , 

 early autumn. 



I can give little information as to the habits of the larvae. Most of, 

 and probably all, the Manitoba Cicindelas pass one winter as larvae, and 

 indications point in some cases to two winters being passed in this 

 conditioYi. ITnfortunately, I am unable to write with exactitude in this 

 matter, but think it well to draw attention to the subject. 



The larv;^^ are by no means the helpless creatures out of their holes 

 some writers think, 'i'hey can crawl readily, and, undoubtedly, in some 

 cases leave one hole and dig another. At the ap]!roach of winter they 

 commence deepening their holes, and, like those of the beetles, when 

 completed the holes vary in depth with the different species. In digging, 

 the insects loosen the earth with the mandibles, and then shove that flat 

 shovel-like structure of the head and prothorax under the loosened earth 

 until sufficient has been received to make a load, when the insect turns 

 round and works its way up, holding the '•shovei" in a horizontal position 

 until it gets level with the top of the hole, when the head and "shovel" is 

 suddenly jerked backwards, which throws the earth two or three inches 

 away. Larv.e that were watched took from 70 to 113 seconds between 

 each load of earth when the holes were about 14 inches deep. 



'I'he plates of the head and prothorax form a most interesting 

 structure, which has apparently been specially modified for the purpose 

 of digging and carrying earth to the surface. 



For the first portion of the season most of the work is done at night 

 or in the evening and early morning, but as the season advances digging 

 is also done in the daytime, especially if the weather is cold. Usually 

 larvae are found digging a week or more later in the season than the 

 imagoes. As the holes get deeper the sand becomes gradually piled up 

 so that the insects are unable to throw it so far away, and at last the earth, 

 by rolling back, blocks the entrance, though not, 1 believe, until the 

 correct depth has been attained, as in some cases the hole is built up 



