20 COMMON BRITISH INSECTS. 



banks, if partly overgrown with grass, are favourite 

 localities of the common Tiger Beetle. 



WE now come to the next family of British 

 Beetles, the Lebiadae. All the Beetles of this family 

 may be known by the appearance of the elytra, which 

 do not extend to the end of the abdomen, and are 

 abruptly squared, looking almost as if they had been 

 cut off. If their first pair of legs be examined, the 

 tibiae will be seen notched on the inner side. They 

 are all rather small Beetles, and some are very 

 prettily coloured. They are tolerably active when 

 they choose to take the trouble of moving ; but they 

 are much given to hiding themselves in all kinds of 

 crevices, so that some trouble is requisite in order to 

 procure them. 



The young entomologist must always bear in 

 mind that the most unpromising localities will often 

 prove to be singularly rich in insects, and that Beetles 

 especially may be found in any spot where there is a 

 crack or a hole. Large stones are nearly sure to 

 shelter a Beetle or two beneath them ; moss is gene- 

 rally full of them ; and a heap of decaying grass or 

 leaves is a hotbed which seems as well fitted to pro- 

 duce Beetles as to force plants. The loose bark of 

 trees always has Beetles under it ; and small Beetles 

 creep into the burrows which larger Beetles have 

 made in the decaying wood of the tree. When a 

 quantity of long moss is to be seen, it is a good plan 

 to fill a bag with it a paper bag will do in lieu of 

 anything better and to bring it home, when it can 

 be carefully examined by shaking it bit by bit over 



