32 INSECTS AT HOME. 



and there is a deep hollow on each side just between the an- 

 tennae. The thorax is wrinkle at the hinder angles and deeply 

 notched behind, and its colour is deep copper. The elytra are 

 metallic green or violet, and sometimes entirely green. Each 

 elytron is marked with three rows of raised striae, broken 

 regularly at intervals, or ' interrupted,' to use the scientific 

 term, and between them are three ridges which are not broken. 

 The line along the suture is black, and the under side of the 

 insect is dull black. 



This Beetle is common in gardens, and, like the rest of its 

 kin, ought to be encouraged and protected, as it feeds almost 

 entirely on the smaller insects, and never meddles with the 

 vegetables. One of the species, Carabus auratus, which is 

 plentiful in France, though very scarce in this country, is most 

 useful to the farmer, as it watches for the female cockchafers 

 as they descend to deposit their eggs in the ground, and then 

 kills and eats them, thus doing more good than if it fed on the 

 destructive grub itself. 



It can be found in the daytime by lifting stones, flower-pots, 

 logs of wood, dead leaves, or similar objects that have been 

 lying in one place for some little time. Care must be taken 

 in handling it, as all the Carabi have an unpleasant habit of 

 pouring from their mouths a blackish fluid which stains the 

 fingers, and is of a very disagreeable character. It is said that 

 the insect can project this fluid to some distance ; but I have 

 never seen this done, though I have caught great numbers of 

 Carabi, and given them every provocation to make use of this 

 weapon, which is analogous to the explosion of the Brachinus. 



All the Carabidae are beautiful insects, and it is difficvilt to 

 select any one that is pre-eminent beyond its fellows. Per- 

 sonally, I think that Carabus cancellatus carries off the palm, 

 though it is not so large as several of its congeners. Its 

 shape is peculiarly elegant, and its colour is greenish brass, or 

 coppery, sometimes deepening into black. On each of the 

 elytra are three chain-like marks composed of oblong tubercles 

 placed end to end, and between each of them is a single bold 

 ridge. These marks are similar in character to those of the 

 preceding insect, but they are very much larger and bolder, 

 and can easily be distinguished without the aid of a lens. There 

 are the rudiments of wings to be seen under the elytra. In 



