356 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



remarkably well, at one period as many as ninety 

 young birds being reared. They gradually dis- 

 appeared, being either shot, or destroyed by 

 vermin, notwithstanding that they were under 

 the care of an experienced English gamekeeper. 

 Sir Richard Dry also imported pheasants and 

 partridges. Other young ones were reared on 

 the Quamby Estate, near Entally, but they were 

 all shot or destroyed. 



A little time since a resident of the Midlands 

 made two unsuccessful attempts to acclimatize 

 grouse and partridges. At the time of writing, 

 another effort is being made. Eggs have also 

 been brought, to ascertain if they would remain 

 fertile during the transit. One great drawback 



to the successful rearing of the game birds is the 

 want of sufficient cover. 



The acclimatization of some English birds in 

 Tasmania has been very successful, and highly 

 gratifying to those gentlemen who have taken the 

 trouble to import new species to this island. 

 The climatic conditions are eminently suited for 

 Western European birds. The winters are not 

 severe, and there is always a certain amount of 

 insect food to be found. The climate generally is 

 very salubrious and well fitted for the introduc- 

 tion and establishment of faima and flora from a 

 country whose climate in some respects resembles- 

 our own. 



Launceston, Tasmania, December 1898. 



CHAPTERS FOR YOUNG NATURALISTS. 



(Continued from page 273.) 



BRITISH TIGER-BEETLES. 



By E. J. Burgess Sopp, F.E.S. 



Genus Cicindela. 



IT has been said that we must first catch our 

 hare before we can cook it, and it is likewise 

 necessary to catch our tiger-beetles before we can 

 examine them. In either case the exercise of a 

 good deal of patience, cunning, or activity is 

 usually reqiured ; indeed, more often than not, a 

 combination of all three is indispensable to success. 

 It is to be feared the old and simple method 

 recommended to us in our youth — in which a 

 pinch of salt plays a prominent part — is scarcely 

 likely to be of more assistance to us in the one 

 case than in the other. Unlike the Necrophora, 

 of which I treated in a former chapter (ante, 

 p. 271), the Cicindelidae are exceedingly quick of 

 movement, and one would be quite as likely to 

 catch a weasel asleep as a tiger-beetle, especially 

 should the day be bright and hot. 



It is often puzzling to account for the popular 

 names which some of our insects bear, but this 

 difficulty does not confront us in the present 

 instance, the genus Cicindela occupying a position 

 amongst insects analogous to that held by the 

 Felidae among the higher animals. The tiger- 

 beetles are carnivorous and highly predaceous in 

 their habits, combining great strength with 

 extreme activity. They are also equally ferocious 

 in both the larval and imago forms. Possessing 

 at the same time keen appetites, and accommoda- 

 ting digestive apparatus, their close proximity 

 must be a very unpleasant, not to say dangerous, 

 circumstance for weaker and less well armed 

 dwellers in their neighbourhood. In general form, 

 and sculpture, they are graceful to a degree ; their 

 colour is bright, and the markings as bold and 

 effective as in the mammals after which they are 



named. The head is large, with prominent eyes 

 and strong jaws, which, together with powerful 

 organs of locomotion, render the beetles eminently 

 adapted to their mode of life. The mandibles 

 which, as in most predatory forms, are long and 

 curved, end in sharp points. They are also 

 possessed of a series of teeth along their keen 

 inner edges. When closed they overlap or cross 

 one another, and are thus well suited for holding 

 or tearing their prey. In addition to being thus 

 equipped, the inner lobe of the maxillae or lower 

 jaws is furnished at the end with a movable hook. 

 This articulation serves to distinguish the 

 Cicindela from allied beetles, in which the hook is 

 always fixed. In mastication the upper and 

 lower jaws act alternately, one set closing as the 

 other opens. The muscles of the mandibles and 

 neck are well developed, and any insect unfortu- 

 nate enotigh to be seized wotdd have a poor 

 chance of escape. I had occasion to refer, in the 

 article just mentioned, to the strength of the neck 

 muscles of the burying beetle, and it may not be 

 out of place to remark that amongst the insects 

 are to be found, relative to size, some of the 

 strongest members of the animal kingdom. In 

 connection with this subject a very interesting 

 experiment was carried out by Canon Fowler on a 

 long-horn beetle (Rhagium inquisitor), which is not 

 uncommon in many districts in decaying oak, fir, 

 and other trees. Having tied weights in pieces of 

 paper he held the insect so that it could seize and 

 hold the various packets if so inclined. He says : 

 " The greatest weight raised was five ounces, or 

 2,187 - 5 grains. The beetle weighed exactly four 

 grains in a chemical balance, so that it supported 

 in its jaws five hundred and forty-seven times its 



