GROUND BEETLES 



173 



the Rhyncophora are the more speciaHzed. The head is 

 drawn out in a snout and the mandibles are much reduced 

 in size. The larval forms are more specialized, usually fitted 

 for living within seeds or parts of plants. 



In the arrangement of families the tiger beetles are usually 

 placed first, but it would seem fully as proper to place Cara- 

 bidcB in this position. 



Tiger Beetles (Cicindelidce).— The tiger beetles are found 

 along roadsides, bare ground, or sandy beach. It is not easy 

 to get the larval forms. The larvae are carnivorous and 

 make little burrows in the earth and catch insects that come 

 along at the surface. 



Fig. 122. — Caiosoma scrutator . 



Fig. 123. — Lebia grandis, 

 an important enemy of the 

 potato beetle. Enlarged. 

 (Chittenden, Div. Ent., U. S. 

 Dept. Ag.) 



Ground Beetles {Carabidce) .—The ground beetles are less 

 specialized. They h\e usually at the surface of the ground 

 and the lar\'8e are provided with three pairs of normal legs 

 and run about readily and are in fact quite primitive in 

 appearance and habits. They are, as a rule, carnivorous, 

 but a few species attack plants. 



Some of the more important beneficial species are the 

 common ground beetle (Calosoma calidum), a black species 

 with a series of metallic golden spots, abundant over a large 

 part of the United States, and which feeds commonly on 



