TIIE GOLD GROSS. 15 



Most of the dusky Beetles which Mr. Bates mentions have 

 been formed into a separate genus called Phaeoxantha. This 

 term is formed from two Greek words, the former signifying 

 dusky, and the latter yellow. The largest of them is called 

 Phaioxantha Klugii, and is a curious-looking creature, quite 

 unlike our English Tiger Beetles, except in the long, slender 

 legs, and the sharp, sickle-like jaws with which the large head 

 is armed. The general colour is dull, pale, yellowish brown, 

 barred with a blacker hue. If this insect were running on 

 ordinary sand, it would be difficult to track its progress, in 

 consequence of the sandy colouring of its body, while, if it 

 remained still, it would be almost impossible to distinguish 

 the body amid the yellow sand and brown stones with which 

 it would be surrounded. 



There is a very small species of this genus, Phceoxantha 

 laminata, which is found in Brazil. It is almost uniformly 

 pale brown, and the hooks which arm the back of the larva are 

 exceedingly long, stout, and boldly curved. 



We now come to the typical tribe of this beautiful and 

 interesting group of 

 Beetles called Cicin- ^ ^g^r ', 

 delides, which are ^.\\' " 

 distinguished by the 

 structure of the tar- 

 sus, or foot. In all 

 these Beetles the 



males have the three Fio. 3.— Gold Cross (Cicimlela aurofasciata). 



first joints of the tar- 

 sus widened and flattened, while the corresponding joints of the 

 female are uniformly cylindrical. There are so many species 

 of Cicindelides, that we must content ourselves with a selec- 

 tion of one or two examples, the first of which is the Gold 

 Cross {Cicindela aurofasciata) of India, one of the most striking, 

 though by no means the most brilliant of the group. This very 

 remarkable Beetle forms quite a type among its relatives, as in 

 all of them there is a tendency to form a light-coloured cross on 

 a dark ground, and in all, more or less, this cross is made by a 

 V-shaped mark upon each of the elytra. 



Such is the case with the present insect. The general hue of 



