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Mr. F. Enock gave the following account of "The Life 

 History of Gicindela camjoestris," illustrated with lantern slides. 



" It was only after many years' watching that I observed 

 the female, boring into the sand at Hampstead Heath, de- 

 positing a single egg in a tiny burrow one-sixteenth of an 

 inch wide by a quarter of an inch deep. I was not successful 

 in rearing the eggs, but from observations found that they 

 hatched in from a week to ten days — according to the weather. 

 The young larva is decidedly like the mature one, both in 

 form and temper, which may be described as ' nasty.' 



"In certain parts of Hampstead, where the sand is free of 

 moss and grass, I have frequently seen dozens of burrows — 

 of all sizes — from the one inhabited by a baby larva to that 

 of a full-grown one, just the diameter of an ordinary pen- 

 holder. On cautiously approaching the ground the larva may 

 be seen ' sitting,' the head filling up the hole, which is finished 

 ofl: with a saucer-shaped ooncavit}' of three-eighths of an inch 

 diameter : a mere hollow, just sufiicient to cause an unwary 

 insect to stumble on a quick run, and — fall into the jaws of 

 the larva. 



" To dig these holes up and turn out the larva is no easy 

 task, unless the following plan be adopted. Cut a grass 

 stem a foot long, letting it down the hole until it will go no 

 farther ; if the top end is agitated, the other is probably 

 between the mandibles of the irate larva. Keep hold of the 

 end, and with a three-fourth-inch half-round file bent round 

 an inch at the tip, dig away the sand from around the stem, 

 keeping on until you come to the end, where the larva is seen 

 sitting, its body turned into a perfect zigzag, which is soon 

 straightened out on being placed on level ground. The 

 strange appearance of the creature can then be studied, 

 with its huge head and receding 'frons,' the mandible turn- 

 ing ivp instead of down, the immensely developed mentum, 

 then the large semi-circular chitinous thoracic plates, followed 

 by the soft, white flaccid abdomen, until the fifth segment 

 is reached. This is swollen into a large dorsal hump capped 

 by two short and powerful vertical spikes ; and in front, but 

 lower down, two longer ones pointing forward, each having 

 a somewhat twisted or corkscrew form — the tips diverging. 



