44 COMMON BRITISH INSECTS. 



WE now come to the last family of the Geodephaga, 

 namely, the Bembidiidae. In all these Beetles the palpi 

 are formed differently from those of the preceding 

 families. If the parts of the mouth be carefully ob- 

 served, the last joint but one both of the maxillary and 

 labial palpi will be seen to be very large, while the last 

 joint is very short and very small, so small indeed that 

 at first sight it looks more like a spur than a separate 

 joint. All these insects are lovers of salt and wet places, 

 and are found on salt marshes near the mouths of tidal 

 rivers, such, for example, as those which cover the 

 district between Rochester and Sheerness, and upon 

 the sea-shore itself. 



Small as they mostly are, they are exceedingly vo- 

 racious, and can kill creatures much larger than them- 

 selves. There is, for example, Cillenium laterale, a little 

 copper-coloured Beetle, which never exceeds one-sixth 

 of an inch in length and is generally much less, which, 

 in spite of its small size, feeds on the common sand- 

 hopper, seizing the active crustacean under the body 

 and so destroying it. Like the ^Epys, which has 

 already been described, this insect passes much of its 

 time submerged under salt water. 



OUR first example of this interesting family of 

 Beetles is taken from the typical genus, and is called 

 Bembidium biguttatum. 



Its colour is brassy or bronze-green, and its sur- 

 face is polished and shining. The head has a shallow 

 impression on each side. The thorax has a slight 

 furrow along the centre, and a depression near each 

 basal angle. The elytra are striated and punctured 



