• ARTICULATA. 153 



lai'ge, the mandibles strong, pointed, curved, and toothed, and all the organs 

 of manducation and locomotion well developed. Tliej inhabit hot and 

 sandy localities and dusty roads, running rapidly, and w-hen dis':urbed, 

 taking wing with great facility, and alighting again at a little distance. 

 They are very ferocious, and prey upon other insects. Among the genera, 

 Cicindela {j^l. 81, figs. 26-29) is the most abundant and the best known. 

 Between forty and fifty species of the United States are known, for 

 descriptions of which, Say's paper in the Trans. Am. Phil. Soc, vol. i., 1818 ; 

 and that of Dr. J. L. Le Conte in the Annals of the IST. Y. Lyceum of 

 ISTat. Hist, may be consulted. The name Cicindela (accented on the third 

 syllable) is sufficiently well known to prevent names like soldier bug, or 

 Spanish fly, from being applied to them. 



Fam. 2. CaraUdce {pi. 81, figs. 11-16). This family corresponds very 

 nearly to the genus Garahus., as viewed by Linnaeus. It is allied to the 

 preceding, but the terminal tooth of the maxillae is hardly ever movable, the 

 mandibles have in general the predaceous structure less developed, and the 

 head is generally narrower than the prothorax. These Coleoptera are 

 predaceous, feeding upon insects, but a few feed also upon vegetable food. 

 They are numerous in genera, species, and individuals, and they abound in 

 cold and temperate regions. Many of the species are less than an eighth 

 of an inch in length. They inhabit fields, where they feed upon larvaB and 

 insects, and they constitute a majority of those found under stones and 

 rubbish. They are generally nocturnal, although some, including the 

 subulipalpi, are diurnal, with habits much like those of the Cicindelidoe. Many 

 of the sjDecies have a fetid odor, and exude an acrid liquid when disturbed. 



The second stirps, JlydrndepJiaga {IlydrocantJiari., Latr.), have the 

 posterior and middle feet flattened, and margined with a bristly fringe, 

 adapting them for swimming, and the posterior pair is distant from the 

 medial feet. The body is oval and depressed, sometimes subglobular, the 

 head broad, and the mandibles robust. There is much less variation of 

 form, and fewer genera and species among them than appear in the 

 Geodephaga ; and the forms from different countries and climates present 

 but little variety, even in color. Of the two families, the Dyticidie have 

 long antennte and short anterior feet, whilst the Gyrinidw have the antenn[e 

 short and the anterior feet long. The former swim beneath the surfoce, 

 coming up occasionally to breathe, and the latter swim in circles upon it. 

 These insects swim with great facility, and prefer lakes, ponds, or standing 

 water. Like the Geodephaga, they are predaceous, both in their larva and 

 perfect state. They seldom leave the water except to find another locality, 

 and then they prefer flying by night. 



Fam. 1. Dyticidce. Dyticus {D. mai'ginalis^ pi. 81, fig. 17) includes 

 certain large species which are destructive to young fish, larvae, and worms. 

 They are very hardy, and may be sometimes seen in small pieces of water, 

 when the surrounding parts are covered with ice. In some of the members 

 of this family the elytra are smooth in the male and sulcate in the female, 

 and in some males the three basal articulations of the anterior tarsi are 

 enlarged and furnished with little organs like suckers. 



357 



