108 THE NATURALIST IN BERMUDA. 
INSECTA. 
THE Entomology of the Bermudas does not present that 
ample field we could desire; the limited area of those 
isles, their isolated character, and other causes, alluded to 
in these pages, sufficiently explain why the forms of insect 
life should be confined to few genera. We believe that 
most of the insects found in the Bermudas, are also to be 
met with in the nearest portion of the American conti- 
nent,—North Carolina, distant about six hundred nautical 
miles ;—thus leading us to infer that each species, at some 
former period of time, and by methods not clearly under- 
stood, has been transported over sea from the Virginian 
coast to its present habitat. Im like manner, the few 
native insects common to the West Indies, are supposed to 
have been introduced from thence in the packages of shrubs, 
plants, or fruit, occasionally imported from that quarter. 
COLEOPTERA (BEETLES). 
The little modest colored Cicindela tortuosa is found in 
some abundance in the Bermudas, where it is common on 
the rocky point of Harris’s Bay, in the months of September 
and October. Like its congeners of other lands, this insect 
is ever on the alert, and ready to spring on the approach of 
the collector. It is the only species of the family C%czn- 
delide we met with on the islands. 
By far the most common beetle, and the best known to 
the inhabitants, is the “hard back” (Ligyrus juvencus). 
The strength of this insect is amazing, considering its 
small size; and if a glass tumbler or a candlestick be 
