BEETLES. 



401 



Fig. 502. — Manticoni maxiilosa. 



Fig. 503. — M<:(iaftphala Sfiu 



scutelluiu is eonipli^tely concealed. The species are usually marked with dark brown 



and yelliiw. 



The last family nt' liielks to he considered is the CieiNDEMiiJi, which, not only on 



account of its structural peculiaritie.'^, Imt also because 



of the exclusively predaceous habits of its species, is 



generally considered the highest family of Coleo[)tera. 



The special character by which they are separated fmni 



the Carabidte is the place of insertiou of the antenu*. 



In the Cicindelidie, these organs are inserted on the 



front above the base of the mandibles. The general 

 form .Hid UMial pattern of col- 

 oration of the insects of this 

 family serve to make them 

 easily recognized. In a few 

 forms the elytra are connate 

 and the wings absent, but most 

 of these insects both run and 

 tiy rapidly. Many of the spe- 

 cies live on the sandy banks of 

 rivers and of the ocean, some 



tropical species live in trees, and a few abound in open places 

 in the \\-oods. Couuerel states that Cicindela trilimaris, from 

 ^Madagascar, has the power of running upon water. Species 

 of ^TeijarejiJuda are crepuscular, remaining in their holes dur- 

 inu' tlie day, and riuming about on the sand just before and 



after sunset. Bates states that Tctracha }iovturnu .and T. palUpes are nocturnal in 



habits. The former species is of the color of the sand u[ion which it runs, and is thus 



protected from insectivorous birds. T. pitUipes is, on the contrary, brilliantly colored, 



and owes its protection from insect-eating animals to its very strong, disagreeable odor. 

 The larva' of Ciciiulelidie live in holes in the ground, the lioles being, in some spe- 

 cies, a foot and a half in de])th. Tiie larv;e have four-jointed 



anteiuia% three-jiiintc(I maxillary palpi, and two-jninted labi.al 



palpi. U]>on cacli side nf the head are the ocelli, which ;ire 



two in number in Ainhli/chila. and eight in sjiecies of T<:tr(icha, 



Omiis, and CicimMa. These larva; are assisted in their motions 



up and down their burrows by a pair of jirotuberances which 



are armed with hooks. When waiting for prey these lar\;e 



rest at the top of their burrows — their metallic-colored head 



and prothorax serving as operculum for the entrance to their 



burrow — with their sickle-shaped mandibles wiile open. When 



the larva has made a capture of some insect that incautiously 



attempted to run over its head, it retires into its burrow to eat 



its prey at its leisure. It is said that the larvse of Cicindela 



i'amp>estris, a European specie.s, leave their lioles at night to 



search for prey. 



Of the group of Manticorini, those Cicindelid.c that have 



the posterior co.xffi separated, the eyes small, and wings absent, oidy two genera are 



found in this country, both of which are confined to North America. In Amblychila 

 VOL. n. — 26 



Kk:. 504. — Ambhfchila cijlin- 

 drit'ormis. 



