18 INSECTS AT 'BOME. 



pressing the points of tlie hooks against the sides, so that no 

 muscular exertion is required in order to keep itself from 

 falling down the burrow. It then opens its jaws widely, and 

 wails for prey. In this position it is all but invisible ; and 

 DViny a small insect runs heedlessly within its reach, and is 

 instantly seized in the terrible jaws. No sooner is the capture 

 made than the Cicindela larva retires to the end of its tunnel, 

 and there -devours its pi'ey in peace. At Fig. 3 of Plate I. is 

 shown the larva at the bottom of the burrow, engaged in eating 

 an ant which it has just caught. 



It is not very easy to procure the larvae, even in places where 

 they are tolerably common. In the first place, their peculiar 

 mode of life keeps them much out of sight. The mouth of the 

 burrow is not large ; and when the larva suspects danger, it 

 immediately retreats to the bottom of its tunnel, and there 

 waits until it feels that the danger has passed by. In the next 

 place, even when the creature has been detected, to capture it 

 is a difficult task, owing to the nature of the soil, which is apt 

 to fall in when disturbed, and so to fill up the burrow and hide 

 the inhabitant. The best plan for catching these creatures 

 without injuring them is to introduce into the burrow a flexible 

 grass-stalk, or something of the same natiire, and to pass it 

 gently down to one very bottom of the tunnel in which the 

 larva is lying. By carefully digging around the grass-stalk, 

 the hidden grub can be secured. 



More care is required in this operation than might at first 

 seem to be needful. The trowel or ' digger ' should be put 

 into the ground at least eight inches from the mouth of the 

 burrow, and quite a large hole should be dug ; as, if it be made 

 too small, the point of the trowel is apt to crush the soft- 

 bodied grub. Then, the grass-stalk must be carefully held 

 • upright in the left hand, while the right hand is employed in 

 digging ; as, if unsupported, it is sure to fall out of the burrow 

 as soon as the operator has dug within some two or three 

 inches of the bottom of the hole, and then all the labour is 

 lost. These larvae may be found about May, and a second 

 brood about August and the beginning of September. 



Many insects are very voracious in the larval condition, but 

 become comparatively indifferent to food when they reach their 

 perfect state. This, however, is not the case with the Tigei 



