CHAPTER II. 



THE GEODEPHAGA. 



The word with whicli this chapter is ' headed is not a verj 

 alkiring one, and yet to an entomolog-irit' it would say that the 

 chapter contains the history of the best developed and some of 

 the most interesting of the British Beetles. The term Geode- 

 phaga is formed from two Grreek words, signifying earth-de- 

 vourers, and is given to the large group of predacious Beetles 

 which live ofi the ground. There is another large group, called 

 the Hydradephaga, or water-devourers, i.e. those predacious 

 Beetles which inhabit the water. We will take these t\"\0 

 important groups in succession, selecting such examples as 

 may best illustrate them. 



It must be, in the lirst place, ob.^erved that any Beetle may 

 be recognised as belonging to either of these great groups by 

 the structure of the mouth. In reference to the illustrations 

 already described, the reader will see that each of the maxillaj 

 (Fig. 4) is furnished with a foiu'-jointed maxillary palpus. All 

 these carnivorous Beetles possess the same organs, but, in addi- 

 tion, they have an inner lobe, wliich is also furnished with its 

 palpus. Several examples of this structure may be seen by 

 reference to the accompanying illustration (Figs, a, c, <?, and /). 

 Both these groups are associated in one large group called 

 Adephaga, the word being a Greek one, and signifying greedy 

 or gluttonous. 



Beginning with the Geodcphaga, we take the first family of 

 the group, the Cicindelida?, or Tiger Beetles. In all these 

 Beetles there is a little movable hook at the end of the 

 maxilloe, and the ligula is \ ery short, and not appearing beyond 

 the mentum. There is only one genus of these Beetles in- 

 habiting England, and this ir the typical genus Cicindela The 



