THE MANTICOEA. 



461 



without turning itself; and, lastly, gifted with agile wings that enable it to rise in the air 

 as readily as a fly or a wasp. Moreover, it is covered with a suit of mail, gold embossed 

 gem studded, and burnished with more than steely brightness, light yet strong and 

 though freely yielding to every movement, yet so marvellously jointed as to leave no 

 vulnerable points even when in full action, and, in fine, such a suit of armour as 

 no monarch ever possessed and no artist ever conceived. True, to the naked or un- 



Tricontiyla Wallacei. 

 Mantlcora latipennis. 

 Ifarpalus caspicus. 



Ciclndtla octonotata. 

 'Anthia suleata. 



Libia crux-minor. 



observant eye it seems to be but a dully green beetle with a blue abdomen, but if placed 

 under the microscope, and a powerful light directed upon it, it blazes out with such 

 gorgeous brilliancy that the eye can scarcely endure the glory of its raiment. The 

 groundwork of its upper surface seems to be burnished and encrusted thickly with 

 emeralds, sapphires, diamonds, and rubies of unspeakable brightness ; while the whole 

 of the under surface is as if made of watch-spring steel, so hard and so shining is its 

 texture, and so rich a purple blue is its colour. 



Even in its larval state the Tiger Beetle is a terror to other insects, snapping them up 

 as they pass by its burrows and dragging them into the dark recesses of the earth to be 

 devoured. Several American species inhabit trees, and are quite as destructive among 

 the branches as their congeners upon the earth. The typical species which is represented 

 .in the illustration is the EIGHT-SPOT TIGER BEETLE of India. 



The British Tiger Beetle is remarkable for exuding a powerful scent, much resembling 

 the odour produced by a crushed verbena leaf. 



An example of a very large genus belonging to this family is given in the engraving 

 under the title of Manticora latipennis, the generic title being given to it because its great 

 dimensions and ferocious habits are thought to bear some analogy with those of the 

 fabled Manticora, a beast which the older naturalists were accustomed to describe with 

 great zest, and in an engraving now before me had figured with the face of a human being, 

 with hair carefully parted, six rows of shark's teeth, and a tail armed with a very arsenal 

 of projectile spikes. Two species of this genus are known, and their very great compara- 



