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THE YOUNG COLLECTOR'S 



very active and voracious insects, 

 swimming about by day with the 

 aid of their long hind legs, the tarsi 

 of which are provided with a fringe 

 of long hairs, and thus act as oars. 

 These beetles will even attack and de- 

 stroy small fisli ; and as they hybernate, 

 they may be met with in the perfect state 

 nearly all the year round. Their larvae 

 are also carnivorous, and are likewise 

 aquatic ; but the beetles leave the water 

 in the evening, and sometimes fly to a 

 great distance. The smaller species of 

 Dytiscida: are generally black or green- 

 ish, more or less marked with yellow ; 

 Dytiscns Marginnlis. some of them are very pretty ; and while 

 Nat. Size. (Female.) some species prefer running water, others 

 are more often found in stagnant pools. 



The next family, the Gyrinidiz, Or Whirligig Beetles, includes 

 the most curious of all our water-beetles, as well as those which 

 most readily attract the attention of 

 those who are not specially looking 

 for them. They are oval, bluish- 

 black beetles, about a quarter of an 

 inch long, very smooth and shining, 

 with very long front legs, and the 

 two hinder pairs short and broad. 

 They may be seen spinning in circles 

 on the surface of the water through- 

 out the summer. But the most re- 

 markable peculiarity is in their eyes, 

 which are completely divided in two, 

 so that they may actually be said to 

 have two eyes on the top of the 

 head, and two on its lower surface, 

 so that they can look upwards and 

 downwards at the same time. There 

 are very few other insects which possess so remarkable an ap- 

 paratus. 



The Palpicornia are a group of beetles which some authors 

 place here, though others place them considerably further on. 

 They include the two families Hydrophilida and Sphceridiida, 

 and may be known by their short, clubbed antennae, and their very 

 long palpi, which are as long or longer than the antennae. The 



Whirligig Beetle (Gytinus 

 Natator), (Mag.) 



