CAEABID.E. 



431 



They are, with few exceptions, predaceous beetles ; they are 

 runners, tlie hind wings being often absent. Their colors are 

 dull metallic or black. They run in grass, 

 or lurk under stones and sticks, or 

 under the bark of trees, whence 

 they go out to hunt in the night- 

 time. They may be found also 

 in great numbers under the debris 

 of freshets and under stones in 

 the spring. 



The larviE are found in much 

 the same situations as the beetles, and are 

 generally oblong, broad, with the terminal 



ring armed with two horny hooks 

 or longer filaments, and with a 

 single false leg beneath. 



The genus Omophron^ remark- 

 able for its rounded convex 

 form, and wanting the scutellum, 

 is found on the wet sands by 

 rivers and pools, where also Ela- 

 ' plirus occurs, which somewhat 

 resembles Cicindela. It has 

 slightly emarginate anterior 

 tibiae, with large prominent eyes, 

 ^'ff- ^^- and rows of large shallow ocel- 



late holes on the elytra. The 

 genus Ccdosoma is well known, 

 being common in fields, where it lies 

 in little holes in the sod, in wait for its 

 prey. I have seen C. calidum Fabr. 

 (Fig. 360) attacking the June bug 

 (Lachnosterna fusca) tearing open 

 its sides. Its larva (Fig. 361) is 

 black. C. scrutator Fabr. (Fig. 362) 

 is a still larger species with bright 

 green elytra. It is known, accord- « ^'S- ^^■ 

 ing to Harris, to ascend trees in search of canker-worms. 

 Carabus has similar habits, but differs in having the thu'd 



