CICINDELIDjE. CICiNDELA. 



being admirably adapted for the purpose, by forming- a fulcrum, or 

 support, and the broad plate at the top of the head exactly fitting 

 the aperture of their den, and being on a level with the soil. In 

 this position they continue immoveable, with expanded jaws ready 

 to seize and devour their prey, which consists principally of the 

 smaller adephagous beetles ; but their voracity is so great, that they 

 do not even spare those of their own species, should one by accident 

 come in their way. In case of danger they retire to the bottom of 

 their pit, and are consequently very difficult to discover. The me- 

 thod employed by Geoifroy and Desmarest to obtain them was by 

 gently introducing a pliant twig or straw into their holes, and gra- 

 dually and carefully excavating the soil around it, when the animals 

 were usually found at the bottom of their cell, resting in a zigzag 

 position. Towards the end of spring the larvse are most abundant, 

 but they may also be obtained during the summer and the begin- 

 ning of autumn. 



Sp. 1. sylvatica. Purpurascenti-^usca, elytris fascia undulata punc- 

 tisque tribus albidis. (Longitudo corporis, 7 — 8 linese.) 



Ci. sylvatica. Linne. — Donovan, x. plate 351,j^ 1. — Stephens' Ca- 

 talogue, No, 1. 



Above deep iridescent purplish-brown, elytra with a whitish external, some- 

 times interrupted, lunule at the base, a transverse, narrow, waved band in the 

 middle, and a round spot near the tip : towards the suture many impressed 

 punctures. Beneath rich blue-green, with fine coppery and purple reflections 

 on the sides of the thorax and breast : thighs metallic-blue, shanks and tarsi 

 bronzed-green : labrum (or upper lip) black : palpi deep bronzed-green. 



In addition to the habitat of this species, given in Entomologia 

 Britannica (Martlesham heath, Suffolk), the extensive sandy heaths 

 between Cobham and Ripley, and the neighbourhoods of Godalmin 

 in Surry, and Christchurch and Parley heaths, Hants, have recently 

 produced it in plenty during the months of June and July. In the 

 former places it was first observed among the fir plantations by my 

 highly valued friend Dr. Leach, and subsequently by myself, and 

 in the latter places (at other periods of the year) by my friend J. 

 C. Dale, Esq., F. L. S., &c., and afterwards by Messrs. Samouelle, 

 Chant, and Bentley. It also abounds near Aldborough in Suffolk, 

 as I am informed by my friend the Rev. F. W. Hope, F. L. S., &c. 



