TIGER-BEETLES THAT ATTACK LOCUSTS. 315 



that abound there quite a number fell victims to the larvae of the 

 Splendid Tiger-beetle {Cicindela splendida Hentz), the burrows of which 

 are abundant in such situations. In the course of two hours' digging 

 we found 19 young locusts that had been dragged to the bottom of the 

 burrows of this species, and were then and there 

 being devoured. *We introduce a figure of this 

 larva (Fig. 50) and of the beetle, which is a 

 brilliant species, the wing-covers being of a bur- 

 nished coppery color, with green reflections, and 

 the rest of the body either metallic blue or 

 green. 



One of the most interesting species of this 

 family that preys upon the locust in Western 

 Kansas is the elegant insect (Amhlycliila ctjlin- 

 driformis Say), which we herewith illustrate 

 (Fig. 52) and which maybe called the Cylindrical 

 Tiger-beetle. It is of a tolerably uniform deep 

 chestnut-brown color, and till quite recently was 

 FIG. 52. lAMBLYCHiLA'^'cYLmDRi- considered a great rarity; indeed, the facile 

 FORMis. princeps among beetles. Unlike the typical 



members of its family, this beetle is nocturnal and rather slow in its 

 movements. Mr. S. W. Williston, of Tale, who captured large numbers 

 last summer, wrote us from Monument, Wallace County, Kans., May 17, 

 as follows, regarding its habits : 



I have collected tlie beetle for several seasons, and have watched its habits. These 

 are almost precisely the same as in Omus. Their movements are much more sluggish 

 than Tetracha or Cicindela. They rarely destroy living insects of any kind, but feed 

 mostly upon effect matter, dead insects, and such live ones as they can capture. 



They cannot run as fast as the slowest Cicindela, and pay no attention to a collector 

 till his fingers touch them. 



Prof. F. H. Snow, of Lawrence, Kans., who made some observations 

 for us last summer in the western part of his State, and who also suc- 

 ceeded in capturing many specimens, gives the following more complete 

 account, in a paper read before the Kansas Academy of Science: 



I was disappointed to find these insects apparently devoid of that intensely ferocious 

 nature which had been ascribed to them bysensational writers for the Eastern press, 

 and which would be suggested by its position at the head of a ravenous family, the 

 Cincindelidce, or Tiger-beetles. I have watched them night after night coming forth 

 from their hiding-places soon after sundown and beginning their night-long search for 

 food. I am satisfied that their sense of sight must be exceedingly deficient, as they 

 never discover their prey from a distance, however slight, and never capture it unless 

 stumbling upon it as if by accident. When, however, they do thus stumble upon an 

 unfortunate caterpillar, grasshopper, or other suitable article of food, a very acute 

 eense of touch, chiefly concentrated in their long and constantly vibrating antennae, 

 enables them to seize upon and firmly hold it with their powerful mandibles, while 

 with their maxillae, or secondary jaws, they withdraw the life-juices and soft tissues of 

 their struggling victim. They also manifest the imperfection of their vision by mak- 

 ing no attempt to escape from their human captors, allowing themselves to be picked 

 up as if entirely blind. They are slow in their movements, walking about with great 

 deliberation over their favorite hunting-grounds, the sloping clay banks. The only 



