140 



COLEOPTERA. 



seen to kill and eat her husband. Of the Water Adephaga, 

 the common Dyticiis, or great Water-beetle, may be taken 

 as an illustration ; this insect, which is common in ponds 

 and ditches, is also a fierce creature, both in its larval 

 and perfect stages; the larva is of shrimp-like form, and 

 is furnished with long curved mandibles, which are per- 

 forated ; through these tubes the creature sucks the 

 juices of its victims. The beetle is of large size, attain- 

 ing a length of about an inch or more. The little 

 whirl-gigs {Gyrini), which love to skate in circles on the 

 surface of the water, belong to this tribe. The Rhy- 



pophaga or Dirt - eaters 

 contain the large Water- 

 beetle Hydrous jjiceus, 

 which exceeds the Dyticus 

 in size, the Burying-beetles, 

 the Devil's Coach-horses, 

 etc. The Hydrous is not 

 nearly so common as the 

 Dyticus, and I do not 

 remember to have ever 

 found it in Shropshire ; in 

 its perfect state it is a 

 harmless insect, but as a 

 larva it is fierce and vo- 

 racious. The female beetle 

 makes a penr-shaped flexi- 



HTBROUs Picus (natural size). ^^^ ^^^ ^f gij|,^ -^^ ^j^j^|^ 



she encloses her eggs ; the sac is attached to some water 

 weed. The Burying-beetles {Necrophorus) are so called 

 from their habit of burying small animals or pieces of 

 carrion, which they do by digging the earth from under 



