3096 



THE JOINTED ANIMALS 



Mormolyce phyllodes (from a small specimen) . 



a small group of species found in Southern Chili, it is restricted in its range to the 

 north temperate zone. Six or seven species are found in Britain; Carabus violaceus 

 and C. nemoralis are perhaps the two most frequently met with, being abundant in 

 gardens and fields in almost every part of the country. The first is nearly smooth, 

 of a dull blue-black color, with purplish borders to the thorax and elytra, and is of 

 about the same size as C. nemoralis (represented in the figure on p. 3088). The 

 latter has a purplish thorax and bronzy elytra, matked with a few rows of conspicu- 

 ous punctures. Another species which we figure, C. auralus, is very rare in 

 England and doubtfully indigenous, but in France it is common and does much 

 service by destroying the cockchafers and their grubs. The genus Calosoma ap- 

 proaches Carabus in many of its char- 

 acteristics, but may be easily distin- 

 guished by its shorter, broader, and 

 more rounded prothorax, and the 

 greater relative width of its elytra. 

 Calosoma inquisitor, though rare and 

 found only in parts of England, may 

 be regarded as a true British species; 

 but the species figured (C. sycophanta} 

 is only an occasional visitant to this 

 country and cannot be considered in- 

 digenous. The Carabidce as a whole, 



though sufficiently varied in their external structure, do not exhibit any very un- 

 usual or striking peculiarities of form, and the species already considered, with a 

 few more presently to follow, may be taken as typical of the commoner forms met 

 with throughout the family. In the genus Mormolyce we ha^ve, 

 however, a remarkable exception. The species of this strange genus 

 three in number, and all very much alike have been found in 

 Java, Sumatra, and other East Indian islands. They are of a pitchy- 

 brown color, and have the body much flattened, and the head greatly 

 elongated, while their antennae are also very long; but, as will be seen 

 from our figure, the chief peculiarity in the appearance of these ex- 

 traordinary insects is due to the great lateral expansions of the borders 

 of the elytra, and the curious manner in which these expansions are 

 prolonged behind. M. phyllodes, -the best-known species, occurs in Scarites gigas. 

 Java, Borneo, and the Malay Peninsula; and the people of Java, struck ( Natural Slze -) 

 no doubt by its peculiar shape, call it "the violin." Some of the largest individuals 

 of the species are nearly three and a half inches long, and measure more than an 

 inch and a half across the broadest part of the elytra. We have alluded, in our in- 

 troduction, to the burrowing habits of some of the Carabidce. The Scaritince are a 

 group that possess such habits, and the accompanying figure of Scarites gigas will 

 give an idea of the general form characteristic of nearly all the species of the group. 

 The genus Scarites comprises a large number of species, all of a uniform black color, 

 and most of them of a moderate size. They make their burrows in the banks of 

 streams, the seashore, or other suitable places, and rarely leave them during the 



