GROUND BEETLES. 239 



beetles were tumbling from the roof. Also at Sandridge 

 Vicarage, about iive miles from the above locality, where the 

 Strawberries were much injured by Ground Beetles, they 

 were noticed early in June by scores falling from the walls of 

 the house, having apparently struck the wall in their flight 

 and then fallen to the ground. 



Besides the above broad-scale observations of the habits of 

 the beetles, I took the opportunity of the numbers of specimens 

 sent me for special observations. The first series were carried 

 on by putting a number of II. ruficornis beetles in a glass jar 

 with some ripe Strawberries, and for seventeen days, that is, 

 from the 4tli to the 21st of July, I continued my observations 

 daily of the attacks of the ruficornis on the fruit. No other 

 material which could be used as food was given to the beetles, 

 and I usually renewed the Strawberries every evening, taking 

 care to examine each berry before placing it in the jar, so as 

 to be sure there was no other insect infestation. 



The result of my observations (usually taken in the morning) 

 was that the beetle injury to the fruit was of various kinds. 

 Sometimes little pits about the eighth of an inch across were 

 hollowed out, or these pits might be more or less confluent 

 with the surface of the berry damaged between them so as to 

 form a patch half an inch long. In another berry a quarter 

 of the surface would be gnawed ; in another much of the out- 

 side of the fruit was ruined by the beetle-gnawings, which gave 

 a slimy mashed-up appearance to the fruit, and (speaking 

 generally) from removal of seeds and roughening of portions 

 of the surface, even where worse damage was not done, the 

 selling value of a crop so treated would have been spoilt. 

 The beetles appeared to continue in perfectly healthy con- 

 dition, and on the fifteenth and sixteenth days of their 

 captivity were pairing ; and after the seventeenth day, as 

 I had found they could live well on Strawberries without any 

 other food, I discontinued the special observation. 



With a view of ascertaining that fruit-feeding was not a 

 peculiarity, an idiosyncracy, so to say, of special beetles, but 

 that the identical beetles feed equally willingly on Straw- 

 berries or on meat, I placed about a couple of dozen beetles 

 sent me as Strawberry-feeders, of which some were Pterostichus 

 vulgaris, but the greater part Harpalus ruficornis, in captivity, 

 and varied their food for some days. The result showed that 

 their bill of fare included not only Strawberries, but live 

 worms, uncooked mutton, cooked meat and lish, and bread. 

 They did not, however, prey on each other, though they 

 attacked the soft parts of a Sirex gigas which was still 

 fresh. 



