170 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



shade, and delights to settle upon banks with a southern aspect, 

 and to run about upon soil that has been rendered so hot by the 

 sun that the bare hand can hardly endure contact with its sur- 

 face. In America, however, the Tiger Beetles possess different 

 habits, preferring trees to the ground, and either running about 

 on the trunk or darting from leaf to leaf in search of their prey. 

 The English entomologist, however, who wishes to find this bee- 

 tle, must look for it on the ground ; and near the spots which the 

 adult beetles traverse so rapidly may be found the larva in its 

 burrow. 



These larvae are most remarkable beings. They are whitish in 

 color, and strangely moulded in form, the head being of enormous 

 size, and of a horny consistency, and the eighth segment devel- 

 oped into a hump-like projection, carrying upon its upper surface 

 a pair of bent hooks. The larva never is seen above the surface 

 of the ground, and, indeed, never exhibits more than the smooth 

 horny head and mandibles. It lives in perpendicular burrows, 

 about a foot in depth, which it is able to traverse with great ra- 

 pidity, and which are only just of sufficient diameter to permit 

 the inhabitant to pass up and down. 



It is a carnivorous being, feeding chiefly on insects, which it is 

 able to capture, in spite of the apparent disadvantage under which 

 it labors of being confined to one spot. The mode by which it 

 obtains its daily food is as follows. Ascending to the upper por- 

 tion of its burrow, it fixes itself firmly by means of its hooks, and 

 then lays its jaws level with the soil. While in this attitude, it 

 is almost invisible, and as soon as an insect passes by the am- 

 bushed larva, the sickle-like jaws grasp it, and it is dragged to 

 the bottom of the tunnel, where it is devoured. Not only is the 

 larva carnivorous, but it is combative in proportion to its voraci- 

 ty, and if a straw be thrust into its burrow, the angry grub will 

 fasten upon it with the tenacious gripe of a bull-dog, and suffer 

 itself to be dragged out of its home rather than release its sup- 

 posed enemy. 



The burrow is made by the larva, and not by the parent, and 

 is a work of some little time, the earth being loosened by means 

 of the feet and jaws, and then carried to the surface on the flat- 

 tened head. 



Other beetles are in the habit of driving deep tunnels into the 

 ground, wherein may be deposited the eggs which are destined to 



