184 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



tubercle and hook, by which the grub can climb up its hole, at the 

 entrance of which it lies in wait for weaker insects. These holes 

 are found in sandy banks frequented by the beetles. Either dig the 

 larvae out, or thrust in a straw, which they will seize and often 

 Buflfer themselves to be drawn out. 



This and the four following families are carnivorous, benefiting 

 agriculture from the immense numbers of insects they destroy. 



Garahidce. In this group the head is narrower than the thorax, 

 which is throughout as broad as the abdomen. The powerful jaws 

 are shorter, and not curved as in the Cicindelidae. The body is 

 also flatter and more oblong. They are runners, the under wings 

 being often absent. Their color generally dull. They run in grass, 

 or lurk under stones and sticks, are under bark of trees, and under 

 the debris of freshets, in the greatest numbers in spring. Lehia 

 is found in Autumn on trees and tops of composite plants. Amara 

 feeds on pith and stems of grasses. Others feed on wheat. They 

 are often attracted by light. Elaphwi, which is flat, and covered 

 with coarse metallic punctures, runs on the mud flats of rivers, &c. 



The larvae are found in much the same situations as the beetle 

 and are oblong, broad, with the terminal ring armed with two hor- 

 ney appendages, and beneath a single tube-like false leg. They 

 are black in color. The larva of Calosoma ascends trees to feed 

 on caterpillars. 



C. scrutator, (Fig. 22,) is our most 

 splendid New England beetle of this 

 family. It has not yet been found 

 in Maine. C. calidum, our common 

 golden spotted purple species, digs 

 holes in fields where it lies in wait 

 for its prey. 



Dysticidce, or Diving beetles, are, 

 by their carnivorous habits closely 

 allied to the Carabidae. They are 

 aquatic, flattened elliptical beetles, 

 with their hind legs ciliated, forming 

 a broad surface for swimming. In 

 night time they leave the water and fly about. Their larvae are 

 ferocious looking objects, and from their long curved jaws, and 

 agile and stealthy habits, called Water Tigers. They prey on tad- 

 poles and large insects. The beetles are most commonly found in 



Fig. 22. 



