304 INSECTS AND MAN 



no more than a mere passing mention can be given here 

 of the majority. With regard to the actual numbers of 

 this beneficial army, official records give the totals as 

 one million, eight hundred and sixty-two thousand, nine 

 hundred and eighty-three parasites and eighteen thousand, 

 eight hundred and thirty-five predatory beetles. These 

 little immigrants comprise egg parasites laying their 

 eggs, in some cases, in the recently deposited lepidopterous 

 eggs; in other cases, ovipositing in eggs just about to 

 hatch, or, to be more correct, in the young caterpillars 

 within the eggs, caterpillar parasites, and pupal parasites. 



From such an array it follows, as a matter of course, 

 that some failures have been leavened with a fair number 

 of successes, and, of the latter, none has been more con- 

 spicuous than that of a little beetle which has accomplished 

 more than lay in the power of mortal man towards ridding 

 the United States of what threatened to be a veritable 

 scourge. The beetle, known to scientists as Calosoma 

 sycophanta, belongs to the family of Carabidce, or ground 

 beetles. About an inch in length, and provided with the 

 long legs common to all members of its family, it is ex- 

 ceedingly active and can run along the ground or climb 

 trees with remarkable agility. Of a beautiful metallic 

 green colour, this showy insect, which is fairly common in 

 Central Europe and not unknown in England, can vie with 

 many of the tropical forms in brilliance of colouring. It 

 has long been known to European entomologists as a most 

 voracious feeder on lepidopterous larvae and pupse, with a 

 preference for those of the gipsy and brown-tail moths ; 

 accordingly, when the ravages of these insects attained 

 serious proportions in the United States, Calosoma was 

 called upon to assist. 



An army of collectors was organised in Europe to ship 

 the beetle to America. In 1905 the first shipment of 

 two hundred and sixteen specimens was sent from Sardinia, 

 but, owing mainly to errors in packing, only one arrived 



