CHAPTER V 

 THE BEETLES: COLEOPTERA 



Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, 



And all the air a solemn stillness holds ; 

 Save where the beetle wheels his drony flight 



And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds. 



GRAY, Elegy in a Country Churchyard. 



Tiger-Beetles and Ground-Beetles. The tiger-beetles (Cicin- 

 de'la, Fig. 20) will serve to introduce another type of insect. 

 Tiger-beetles are usually metallic, shining, bright-colored spe- 

 cies, about one and a half centimeters in length, with large 

 heads and prominent eyes, and are found on sandy roads or 

 beaches, flying about while the sun shines. Some of them are 

 bright red or green; some are brown or black, with white 

 markings ; while others are protectively colored, resembling 

 the sand on which they live. They run swiftly, and when 

 disturbed take flight, only to alight at a short distance, 

 often facing about so that they can better watch the pursuer. 

 The mouth-parts are all well-developed and distinct, as in 

 the locust. The mandibles are long, and toothed on the inner 

 edge, admirably fitted for seizing living prey. The posterior 

 wings are concealed by a pair of hardened wing-covers (ante- 

 rior wings), which meet in a median longitudinal line down 

 the back. The wing-covers are not used in flight, but serve 

 to protect the delicate wings beneath. 



The larvse are misshapen, dirty-white grubs, living in holes 

 which they dig in sandy places. Two hooks on the dorsal 

 surface enable them to climb up and down in their holes, 

 which are sometimes thirty centimeters or more deep, and 

 prevent their being dragged out when they have hold of 



37 



