682 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S. 

 Regent's Park 



GROUND-BEETLE 



The beetles of this group art generally of 



a black or bronzy colour, some species 



being beautifully metallic 



wing-cases. It pours out an evil-smelling liquid from the end 

 of the body when handled. 



The curious red-and-blue BOMBARDIER, which, when interfered 

 with, discharges a little puff of bluish-white smoke from the tip of 

 the abdomen, accompanied by a distinct report, is also a member 

 of this group. It is found under stones on river-banks, and also 

 on the coast. 



Next come the predacious beetles of the water, of which we 

 have a well-known British representative in the GREAT BROWN 

 WATER-BEETLE. This insect, which is plentiful in weedy ponds, 

 swims by means of its hind limbs, which are modified into broad, 

 flat oars, with a mechanical arrangement for "feathering" as they 

 are drawn back after making each stroke. It flies by night, often 

 traveling for a long distance from one pond to another, and 

 regains the water by suddenly folding its wings and allowing 

 itself to fall from a height. In 

 the female insect the wing-cases are 

 grooved for about two-thirds of their 

 length. 



This beetle must not be con- 

 founded with the still larger BLACK 



WATER-BEETLE, which belongs to another group. This fine insect, 



which is not predacious in the perfect state, is locally plentiful 



in ditches, and is in great request as an inmate of the fresh- 

 water aquarium. The hind limbs are not modified for swimming 



purposes. 



Next in order come the COCKTAILS, so called from their 



curious habit of turning up the end of the body when alarmed. 



To this group belong most of the tiny " flies " which cause such 



severe pain when they find their way into the eyes. Some 



species, however, attain to a considerable size, the well-known 



DEVIL'S COACH-HORSE being fully an inch in length. The great 

 majority are scavengers, being 



found in carrion, manure, and de- 

 caying vegetable matter. A few, 

 however, are lodgers in the nests 

 of ants, by whom they appear to 

 be regarded as pets and treated with the utmost kindness. 



The next group includes the curious insects popularly 

 known as BuRYING-BEETLES, which inter the bodies of small animals 

 in the ground, scooping out the earth from underneath them by 

 means of their broad and powerful heads, and shovelling it back 

 when the carcases have sunk to a sufficient depth. The eggs 

 are laid in the carrion thus buried. Most of these beetles are 

 distinguished by broad blotches or bars of orange on the wing- 

 cases, but one common British species is entirely black. 



Allied to these, and very similar in habits, are the FLAT 

 BURYING-BEETLES, of which there are about a dozen British species. 

 In the best known of these the thorax is dull red in colour, and 



BLACK WATER-BEETLE the black wing-cases are curiously wrinkled. Another species is 



A shining black species longer, narrower, redd j s h yellow in Colour, with tWO TOUnd black Spots On each 

 and more convex than the Great J 



Brown Water-beetle wing-case. It is found on oak-trees, and feeds upon caterpillars. 



Photo by W. f. Dando, F.Z.S. 

 Regent' 1 ' Park 



GREAT BROWN 

 WATER-BEETLE (MALE) 



A large olive-brown species, about an 



inch in length, and nearly half as 



broad. The "wing-cases of the 



female are grooved 



Photo by IT. P. Dando, F.Z.S. 

 Regent's Park 



