240 



THE OPEN COUNTRY 



The green tiger-beetle (Cicindela campestris), so often found in sandy fields, is about 

 half an inch long, and bright silky green above, with a brown-edged white spot in the 

 middle of each wing-cover and three white spots on their edges. The German tiger- 

 beetle (C. gernianica), on the other hand, lives in fields or grassy hills, and is under 

 half an inch in length, of almost cylindrical shape, and greenish, violet, or black 

 above. On the edge of each wing-cover are two white spots, and on their tips is 

 a crescent of the same colour, but the colouring varies greatly in different 

 individuals. 



The short -winged rove -beetles of the family Staphylinidce derive their 

 name from the six or seven uncovered rings of the abdomen, which are horny all 

 round. They are very rapid runners, and their long-legged wingless larvaa are also 

 very quick on their feet and curl up the ringed abdomen like earwigs. They 

 have much the same habits as the adults, feeding on living insects and living in 

 decaying matter. Many of this group emit a peculiar smell, while some have no 



•"s $V"V 



RED-WINGED ROVE-BEETLE. 



mouth, but only a thin slit at the bottom of the jaws, witli which they suck their 

 victims. One of the commonest species of this family is the red-winged rove-beetle 

 [Staph ill in us erythropterus), which is from half to three-quarters of an inch long. 

 It is black and hairy, with reddish bars on the antennae, elytra, and legs, and has 

 golden spots on each side of the head, the posterior margin of the thorax, and the sides 

 of each abdominal segment. Another family is represented by Hister ij uadri notatus, 

 which is much like other carnivorous species in its habits, and eats beetles living in 

 manure. It is broad and rounded, glossy black in colour, with a square red spot 

 on each shoulder, and an oblique one on the disc, and is a quarter of an inch long. 

 Burying-Beetie, The carrion-beetles (Silphidce) are represented by the German 



etc - burying-beetle (Necrophorus germanicus), which also feeds on dung- 



beetles, as well as on other insects. It is black, with black clubs to the antennae, 

 and a triangular yellow spot on the forehead, the wing-covers having red 

 edges, and its total length being from an inch to 1J inches. Like many of its 

 relatives, it lives on manure and carcasses, which it scents from a distance ; by under- 

 mining the ground beneath them, it inters small dead animals and deposits in 



