FAMILY CARARID.E. '89 



1. AiUcrior tilua notcktd on the inside. 



1. Brachinides : Bombardiers. Elytra truncated bcliind. Tarsi of the males seldom dilated at 



the base. 



2. ScARiTiDEs : Biirrmvcrs. Elytra roundcil at the extremity. Abdomen pedunculated. 



3. IlAurALinKS : BJackclncks. Elytra rounded behind, .\bdomen sessile. 



II. Anterior tibia without a notch 7itar the tip. 



4. Carabides : Dischargers. 



5. Bk.mbipiides : Subaqttatics. This sub-family is distinguished from the four preceding by its 



palpi being terminated by a minute eonieal joint, while the same organ in the former is 

 terminated by a joiut c'lually large with the others. 



The hiiliits of these sub-families differ from eacli other in many respects. The most 

 imjx)rtHUt fact, luiwever, which sIiduUI be stated respecting the numerous species behmging 

 to this family, is that they are friendly to the farmer. Many of them live u{wn refuse mat- 

 ter : somo devour those insects that are injiui<nis to the farmer : hence they should not 

 lie destroyed ; and not only so, but it seems even possible to employ some species of them 

 for the very purpose of extirpating injurious insects. To exhibit the mode in which this 

 may be accomplished, I copy the following communication from Prof Haldeman, which 

 he had translated from the fifth volume of the Revue Zoologique. Tlie facts and remarks 

 are quite important, and should be generally known, and therefore no apology is required 

 for introducing them in this place. 



' " There is," says M. BoisiaKAvn, "a numerous faiTiily, composed of carnivorous species, 

 most of them robust and veiy voracious, wliich may be multiplied with imitunity, and 

 without fear, in our gardens. They do not, indeed, feed upon plants, which they are called 

 to protect : on the contrary, they and their larvae make great havoc of the herbivorous 

 insects, and at t|ie same time of the limaces and helices," or land-snails, with and without 

 shells ; which, in Eiu-ope, ai-e destructive to vegetation, but cannot be considered in the 

 light of noxious animals in America. Nevertheless we are occasionally put in possession of 

 the means to destroy them, taken from English horticultiual works ; just as we are told 

 how to protect ourselves from insects which are not found upon oiu- side of the Atlantic. 

 This is principally owing to the fact that the same vulgar name is applietl to distinct objects 

 in Eiirojie and America. 



' Tlio insects alhided to are the carabidir. " Well, who would believe it," continues the 

 author, *-the greater part of the cultivators crush these powerful auxiliaries with a kind 

 of avidity; whilst the butterfly, which is to give birth to numerous ciiterpil Jars, which 

 afterwards devour their plants, is the object of their admiration, and frequently even of 

 their protection. A multitude of noxious insects, after having for several jears committed 

 ravages upon our property, disappeared suddenly, without our being made acquainted with 



