LARV/E OF TIGER BEETLES. 11 



by their strong jaws. Field Crickets are taken in jnst the same 

 manner. 



On Plate I. Fig. 1, is seen a very pretty Beetle which belongs 

 to the same tribe as the preceding insect. It has no popular 

 name, however well it may deserve one. but is known to ento- 

 mologists as Tctracha punctata. 



It is a singularly beautiful insect, and, lovely as it is, to 

 describe it is no easy matter. 



Many of these Tiger Beetles are coloured in such a manner 

 that it is utterly impossible to define their leading hue. It all 

 depends on the direction of the light, and in many cases, as in 

 the present instance, the real ground hue of the insect is a matter 

 of considerable doubt. The chameleon is nothing to the Tiger 

 Beetle. I have made plenty of experiments on both creatures, 

 and come to the conclusion that all the ground colour of a 

 chameleon may be defined; that of many a Tiger Beetle defies all 

 definition. And the more pains that are taken, the more the 

 microscope is set to work, the less defined is the ground colour. 



In the present species there are only two points of colour 

 which may be considered as fixed. One is a yellow patch at the 

 end of the elytra, and the other is the yellowness of the legs and 

 antennas. As to the upper surface of the body, it may be said 

 to be almost any colour. I have tried these Beetles in various 

 lights, and have ascertained that the leading colour is blue, fiery 

 crimson, green, or bronze, exactly as the light happens to fall 

 upon the insect, not to mention the intermediate colours of 

 purple and violet which ripple over the surface as the light is 

 shifted. As the name implies, the elytra are deeply and boldly 

 punctured. The insect is found along the banks of the great 

 Amazon river. 



At Fig. 2 of the same illustration is given the larva of this 

 Beetle, for the purpose of showing the peculiar apparatus by 

 which it is able to travel up and down the perpendicular tunnel 

 in which it lives, and to maintain its place at the mouth of its 

 burrow without fatigue. 



On the back may be seen a bold hump-like process, and on 

 the hump are two small but strong horny hooks, set upon the 

 eighth ring of the body, counting from the head. These hooks 

 are boldly curved backwards, and it is chiefly by their help 



