August, 1886.] 
AND OOLOGIST. 
127 


nized. The Cicindelidse are lovers of warm, 
sunny places, and the sandy roads are favorite 
habitats with most species. (. vulyaris, C. pur- 
purea and other species can be found on country 
roads and sand hills, especially where men have 
formerly dug the sand. Others, like the @. sez- 
guttata, love the woody roads and are often found 
in forests, on rocks and in the grass along the 
paths. I have found many under rocks. 
C. generosa 1 have but rarely seen; it is not 
common on my collecting grounds. It is a variety 
of C. formosa Say. C. dorsalis Say is very com- 
mon on Long Island Sound in Connecticut. It is 
a nearly white species with a dark head and 
thorax, with greenish marks on clytron; lives 
near the sea, but I have rarely seen it in Massa- 
chusetts. They are rapacious, prey on other in- 
sects, and for this, with their active motions, they 
have been termed the Tiger Beetles. 
When you are walking along a road, you wilf 
notice them flying before you. When startled 
they only fly afew yards and then light on the road 
again, with head turned toward you, after flying 
away once or twice they sometimes make a quick 
curve around you and fly back to the point where 
you first disturbed them, but this is not always 
the case. Often I have seen them fly away to the 
right or left and leave the road you are on for 
quieter places. 
A net is required to catch them, and it is a good 
idea to put them in the cyanide bottle alone, for if 
you do not they are liable to catch some beetle in 
their strong mandibles and destroy it. It is best 
to empty the bottle of other specimens before you 
begin to catch the “tigers.” 
In the larval form they are also rapacious and 
live in the sand, on which they will as beetles 
live and die. It is easy to get the larve, by gently 
pushing a straw down the hole, at the bottom of 
which they are lying in wait for the luckless in- 
sect that may cross the mouth of their cavern. As 
soon as the straw reaches them they will bite it, 
and as they will seldom let go, you can readily 
bring them to the surface. 
I have reared one or two specimens, and much 
enjoyment may be derived from such study. It 
would be well, both for the student and science, 
if more amateurs would make a specialty of rear- 
ing Coleopterous larvee. 
Those who desire to determine their species 
should procure Mr. F. G. Schaupps’ Monograph, 
published in 1884 by the Brooklyn Ent. Society, 
as it will prove a most valuable work. 
I have collected in the past few years about 
thirteen species oi Cicindela in New England, and 
for the benefit of the beginner who may be in- 
terested to know what species are local I give a 
list, with notes on the occurrences of the species. 
I wish to add that these notes are of my own in- 
dividual experience, and may vary from others at 
different localities. 
Cicindela vulgaris, Say. 
where. 
Very common every- 
Not common. 
Several varieties are found. 
C. repanda, Dej. 
C. purpurea, Oliv. 
Some common. 
C. sex-guttata, Fab. Common. 
C. scutellaris, Say, (var-rugifrons, Dej.,) C. seu- 
tellaris, Say, (var-modesta, Dej.) Somewhat 
scarce in Western Connecticut. 
C. unipunctata, Fab. 
Not common. 
Western Connecticut. 
C. longilabris, Say. Rare; I have only found 
one specimen, near the White Mountains. 
C. hirticollis, Say. Fairly common. 
C. punctulata, Oliv. Very common. 
(. dorsalis, Say. Common on the shore along 
Long Island Sound in Connecticut, rare in 
Massachusetts. 
C. marginata, Fab. 
men, near Lynn, Mass. 
C. puritana, Horn. 
Connecticut. 
C. hentzit, Dej. 
Have found but one speci- 
Rather rare in Northern 
Fairly common. 

The Vivarium. 

BY CYANIDE. 
As many collectors will desire to rear a number 
of their own specimens, and a majority of the 
choice larvee can yet be taken, a few words on 
this subject will not be amiss. The most essential 
point is to have all the conditions as natural as 
possible at all seasons. With the ordinary 
vivarium, I have experienced a great deal of 
difficulty in doing this, particularly in the winter, 
especially with those larvee whose transformations 
are subterranean. The earth was apt to be either 
too wet or too dry at times, and if the pups were 
placed on damp moss they were liable to become 
coated with a mould or fungus, that invariably 
proved fatal. To avoid all this I have adopted a 
(to me) new method. I have built my vivarium 
large enough to accommodate all the larve I ex- 
pect to rear, having the bottom open and set it on 
the ground with the lower edges buried three or 
four inches. My water bottles for food plants are 
buried in the earth, as in the portable ones. As 
soon as cold weather sets in, I will stake the 
corners and remove the box entirely, replacing it 
next spring with another, about a foot larger each 
way, so that any stragglers that may go down 
