558 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



does its very best to satisfy an apparently insatiable 

 appetite, and in order to accomplish this, much 

 cunning is shown. Working its way by means of 

 legs and hooks to the top of the burrow, it stops 

 up the aperture with its broad flat head, which 

 may be either on a level with the surface of the 

 ground or slightly lower, so as to form a shallow 

 depression. It is when in this position the peculiar 

 formation of the raised segment above referred to 

 is most strikingly illustrated ; the hooks, which 

 are bent backwards, serving to keep the larva 

 firmly fixed in the attitude described, so that the 

 whole of its attention can be devoted to the 

 business in hand, which consists in pouncing upon 

 such small creatures as may be so unfortunate as 

 to stroll within reach. Should any insect wanderer 

 unheedingly step or slip into the slight depression 

 formed, the wily grub instantly drops to the 

 bottom of its tunnel, the unsuspecting victim, of 

 course, falling too, where it is promptly seized 

 and devoured. Then the larva again takes up 

 its position at the orifice, lying in ambush with 

 appetite seemingly whetted rather than appeased. 

 When full grown the grub closes the entrance to 

 its home, retires to the subterranean cell and 

 assumes the pupal form, in which state it remains 

 for a short period in blissful quiescence, until 

 ready in the last act to reappear in an entirely 

 new character, with a costume of glorious colour, 

 to play the part of a perfect tiger-beetle. 



The Cicindelidae belong to the great tribe of 

 carnivorotis and predaceous beetles known as the 

 Adephaga, which, for convenience, is often con- 

 sidered with two sub-tribes to contain the terres- 

 trial and aquatic forms, termed respectively the 

 Geodephaga and Hy dradephaga. In addition to the 

 Cicindelidae, numbering over nine hundred species, 

 the Geodephaga also includes the large family 

 Carabiclae, over eleven thousand species of which 

 are now known to science. The Cicindelidae 

 comprise two genera — Tetracha and Cicindela; 

 the former being twilight-loving or nocturnal in 

 their habits, the latter preferring the hottest 

 sunshine. The genus Cicindela is cosmopolitan, 

 and contains over four hundred and fifty species, 

 but of these less than half-a-dozen are indigenous 

 to the British Islands, and one only can be said to 

 be common and generally distributed throughout 

 the greater part of the kingdom. 



Cicindela campestris, the field tiger-beetle, ranges 

 from half to nearly five-eighths of an inch long. In 

 occasional specimens the coloiir varies considerably 

 from the normal, but the type hue is some shade 

 of rich dark green, with the basal joints of 

 antennae, front and hinder borders of thorax, 

 margins of elytra, and femora and tibia of the 

 legs of a brilliant lake or copper-red colotiring ; 

 the tarsi are often bright green, shot with ruby 

 red. Each elytron bears five white marks, which, 

 although varying somewhat in size and distinct- 



ness in certain individuals, are usually plainly 

 discernible. The largest of these, situated on the 

 disc, is surrounded by a black line, the others 

 being arranged from the apex round the outer 

 margin of each wing-case. A black form of this 

 beetle (var. funebris) is found in the Clyde district 

 of Scotland, but is of decidedly rare occurrence. 

 C. campestris is readily known from all other- 

 British species, except C. germanicus, by its colour 

 and markings, whilst from the latter its size alone 

 will easily serve to distinguish it. The green 

 tiger-beetle is generally common all over the 

 kingdom, but, as is the case with all beetles, is 

 much more plentiful in some districts than in 

 others. It frequents sandy places, where it may 

 be found during spring and early summer about 

 turf-banks and bare patches on heaths and 

 commons, on ploughed land, &c, in which situa- 

 tions, when not engaged in more serious pursuits,, 

 like the policeman's coster in the "Pirates of 

 Penzance," it " loves to lie a-basking in the sun." 



Cicindela sylvatica, the wood tiger-beetle, is the 

 largest of our native species, and varies in length 

 from five-eighths to three-quarters of an inch, its 

 long legs serving to give it the appearance of being 

 a still larger insect. The general colour is a rich 

 chocolate or dark-brown hue, very metallic, and 

 with purplish or violet reflections ; which colour 

 is often replaced in the tibia and tarsi by bright 

 blue or green. The elytra are strongly punctured,, 

 and exhibit a series of larger pits or depressions,, 

 which give the upper surface a rough-looking 

 appearance. They are also boldly decorated with 

 light-yellow markings, which shape themselves 

 into a kind of pattern, and present a very pleasing 

 effect. The antennae, as in all the genus, are fili- 

 form or thread-like, and consist of eleven joints, 

 the basal four being bright and highly-polished, 

 the apical ones dull and less pubescent. Apaz't 

 from its average larger size, C. sylvatica may be 

 at once recognised by the series of dorsal pits and 

 form of the markings on its wing-cases, as well as 

 by the fact that the labrum is always concolorous. 

 with the head, whereas, in all our other species, it 

 partakes of some shade of yellow. It is a de- 

 cidedly local beetle, but not uncommon where 

 found, and may be looked for on bare patches or 

 banks near woods, on sandy heaths, and in similar 

 situations — more especially in the South of 

 England. 



Cicindela hybrida is, on an average, rather larger 

 than C. campestris, and smaller than our last beetle. 

 In colour it is of a warm bronze-brown, shot with 

 green, ptirple, or ruby reflections. The elytra are 

 closely covered with small prominences, which are 

 of so slight an elevation as to be little more than 

 a roughness of the chitinous casing, but which are,, 

 nevertheless, plainly discernible with an ordinary 

 magnifying glass. They are also marked with 

 yellow stripes at the shoulders, middle, and apex. 



