Nov., *o6] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 339 



ture, retiring- to the burrow to eat. These burrows were readily 

 found, as the little pile of freshly dug pellets of earth betrayed 

 the insects' hiding place. Their gait, when undisturbed, is 

 rather deliberate for members. of this genus, they walk slowly, 

 exploring their feeding ground with great thoroughness, mak- 

 ing dashes at any small insect that comes within range of their 

 vision. One that was watched, traversed a lane twice in an 

 hour without taking wing. The distance traveled was about 

 one hundred and twenty feet, without counting the zig-zags 

 from side to side, made in quartering the ground in search of 

 food. 



In captivity they were voracious eaters, feeding on flies 

 and other soft-bodied insects that were killed and placed 

 in their cage. Eight or ten flies were none too much 

 for a single beetle. They were particularly fond of 

 ants, a small black variety being their favorite. C. pur- 

 purea is the only Cicindela that was observed that would 

 capture and eat ants, in fact they seemed to prefer them to any 

 other food offered. They were able to see the ants at about 

 four or five inches away ; when seen the ant was rushed, bitten 

 once and given a toss, as a terrier does when he catches a rat, 

 rushed again and bitten, this being repeated until the ant 

 showed little or no signs of life, when it was very deliberately 

 chewed and swallowed. While hunting, they stand very high ; 

 when biting their prey they have a queer see-saw motion of 

 their body, bobbing their head up and down and standing very 

 high on their hind legs. When disturbed they squat instantly 

 and remain motionless, if the danger becomes more threaten- 

 ing, they spring into the air and take wing. That they have 

 this power of springing into the air, and to which perhaps is 

 due their ability to take wing so readily, is seen in those who 

 from anchyloses of the elytra are unable to fly. One of these 

 deformed beetles that was under observation was able to jump 

 clear from the ground a little over an inch. They may hiber- 

 nate, as they were found late in October buried to the depth of 

 eighteen inches very much alive. One that was kept in cap- 

 tivity, captured late in the fall, was alive in its burrow at 

 Christmas time. It died shortly afterwards, due probably to 

 neglect to keep the earth in its cage moist. 



