THE CTCTNDELIDM. 303 



just mentioned they are admirably adapted to act as carnivorous 

 creatures. The common green tiger beetle, Cicmdela campestris, 

 is well known in Europe, North Africa, and in Asia Minor. It 

 is of a beautiful sea-green colour, with copper tints upon the 

 head, the body, and the margins of the elytra, which assume a 

 fiery look when in the full sunlight. These insects are very in- 

 teresting when they are larvae, and their habits and artifices 

 resemble those of some very different genera. The larvae live 

 in the same localities as the adults, and these last are so per- 

 fectly covered in by their thick integument, and are so active, 

 that they have no fear of wounds, and can readily escape from 

 too active an enemy. The larvae have all the desire for slaughter 

 evinced by their parents, but their delicate skins, long bodies, and 

 short legs, not only prevent them from chasing prey, but from at- 

 tempting a struggle with an insect of any size ; nevertheless, these 

 imperfectly armed creatures manage to obtain their prey without 

 exposing themselves to much risk. They have short, thick, and 

 spiny legs, which enable them to dig holes in the ground, and 

 they have a flat head, with which they cast forth the pieces of 

 earth they have detached, and furnished with these instruments 

 they construct a vertical tunnel, which curves at a certain depth 

 and becomes a horizontal gallery. The larva has a coriaceous plate 

 on each of the segments of its body, and there are two fleshy 

 tubercles upon the fifth ring of the abdomen, which is larger 

 and more swollen than the others, and which are provided with 

 hooks that curve forwards. The insect crawls in its tunnel with 

 ease, and if it wishes to remain set fast it sticks the back of 

 its body against the sides, and rests safely with the aid of its 

 hooks. In this position it can poke its head out of the ground, 

 and it closes the entrance of its tunnel and waits until some httle 

 ant or other insect passes over. The top of the larva's head 

 forms the floor of the cavity down which the insects are expected 

 to fall, and when one of them touches it the larva descends 

 at once and with great precipitation. The prey feels the soil 

 giving way beneath its feet, and falls down the hole, and is 

 forthwith eaten by the larva, which is soon ready for another. 

 When full grown it closes the orifice of its hole, and undergoes 

 the metamorphoses. 



