For the past seventeen years 1 have been noting down facts as 

 observed in the life-history of Cicindela campestris, which in company 

 with other insects has gradually formed into a complete chain. 

 Each one of the thirty illustrations which I shall show upon the 

 screen I have drawn from nature, and while so engaged I have felt 

 that no entomologist can possibly enjoy to the full measure the 

 pleasure of studying these creatures until he or she has placed an 

 insect under the microscope, and determined, in spite of all imaginary 

 inaptitude for such work, to make a drawing of each part. The 

 power soon comes with perseverance and repeated failure ; but the 

 immense pleasure and delight felt by having the image stamped 

 upon our mind in indelible characters fully compensates for all trials. 



The tiger beetle is well named, resembling the royal quadruped 

 in the beauty of its external splendour, as well as in its ferocity of 

 character. Both use their discretionary power when retreat seems 

 the best thing to do ; but if otherwise, our small six-footed friend 

 can face an enemy, and show as well as use its teeth, this last act 

 being accompanied by a gratuitous supply of perfume — not an un- 

 pleasant one. On bright sunny days in March and April this 

 beautiful beetle delights to roam over a sandy common, such as' that 

 dear to Londoners, viz. " happy Hampstead," where in certain parts 

 they are very common. As all entomologists know, the elytra are 

 brilliant green when seen in certain angles of light ; the small ruddy 

 spots aid the beetle very much by protective resemblance to its 

 environment. I have frequently watched one " pitch " on to a 

 patch of moss, whose terminals are tipped with ruddy leaves, the 

 resemblance of the colours being so much alike that it is most 

 difficult to detect the beetle at a glance. Those who desire to see 

 the ovipositor in use must lie low on the ground with opera-glasses 

 focussed. This is not pleasant work in such a public resort as 

 Hampstead Heath, and many years pass before one is able to 

 chronicle such an observation ; but when it has been made, it proves 

 the perfection of every part of the beetle, from its head to the tip of 

 its tail. The ovipositor is about three sixteenths of an inch long by 

 one sixteenth diameter, armed at each side of the tip with a pointed 

 trowel-like organ, which can be brought to form one point, with which 

 a minute hole is made in the sand, and gradually worked down until 

 a depth of three sixteenths of an inch is reached, when an oval egg, 

 one fiftieth of an inch long, is laid at the bottom, the beetle repeating 

 this process in holes within quite a small compass, frequently one 

 hole running down within a quarter of an inch of another. The tiny 

 " tiger grub " asserts itself as soon as born. The life of the larval 

 stage occupies from two and a half to three and a half years, a full- 

 grown larva measuring one inch and a quarter in length. Many 

 years ago I was passing over Woking Common, when my attention 

 was attracted by seeing a number of small holes suddenly appear in 

 the sand, and standing still for a minute, these holes were filled up 

 again by some living creature rising from beneath. On moving all 



