154 BEETLES 



may be distinguished from the often very similar larvae of the 

 Diptera or Two-winged Flies. 



Although so diverse in form and habit, none of the Coleoptera 

 display those wonderful social habits which are such a striking 

 feature of the life of the ants, bees, and wasps ; nor do they dis- 

 play the architectural ability of the Hymenoptera. Nevertheless, a 

 large proportion are of considerable economic importance, acting 

 as natural scavengers, burying dead animals beneath the surface 

 of the soil, feeding upon and depositing their eggs in the body so 

 interred ; and also feeding upon all sorts of animal and vegetable 

 garbage. Others, again, are anything but beneficial, attacking 

 not only the growing crops of the farmer and market gardener, 

 but taking toll of stored grain, flour, hides, furs, and timber. 



The first tribe of the order Coleoptera, called the Adephaga, is 

 distinguished from all others by the very characteristic adaptation 

 of form to carnivorous and predaceous habits. The limbs are 

 constructed for rapid locomotion, and the body for rapid move- 

 ments ; while the parts of the mouth are strongly developed. To 

 this tribe belong the Tiger Beetles (Cicindelidce) , elegant and finely 

 coloured beetles with large jaws, sharp and toothed mandibles, 

 and long, slender legs. The Common Green Tiger Beetle is really 

 a very handsome insect, wonderfully active and bold, and is car- 

 nivorous in its habits. The larva has all the desire for slaughter 

 evinced by its parents, but its long body covered only with a 

 thin skin, and its short legs, prevent it from giving chase to its prey ; 

 nevertheless, it has the means of obtaining victims without exposing 

 itself to much risk. With the help of its short, thick, spiny legs 

 the larva digs a hole in the ground, using its head as a kind of 

 shovel to cast forth the earth, and in this way is formed a vertical 

 tunnel, which curves at a certain depth so as to become a hori- 

 zontal gallery. The larva has two curious fleshy tubercles and 

 and curved hooks upon the very swollen fifth segment of its body, 

 and if it wishes to remain set fast in its tunnel it sticks the back 

 of its body against the sides and rests safely with the aid of its 

 hooks. In this position it can poke its head out of the ground, 

 and it closes the entrance of its tunnel and waits until some small 

 insect, such as an ant, passes over. The top of the larva's head 

 forms the floor of the cavity, and when an incautious insect steps 

 upon it the Tiger larva lets go its hold and descends with sudden 





