18 



USEFUL BIRDS. 



Pig. 9. — Predaceous beetle; the lion 

 beetle or caterpillar hunter. 



(Carabidse) already mentioned, the tiger beetles (Cicinde- 

 lidse), the ladybirds (Coccinellidse) , and many of the true 

 bugs. Such insects are often miscalled parasites, but they 

 do not merit this misnomer. 



The predaceous beetles are 

 the wolves, lions, and tigers of 

 the insect world. They hunt 

 down their prey, pouncing 

 upon it and killing it when 

 found. Often these insects 

 are so ravenous that they con- 

 tent themselves with drawing 

 the life blood and other juices 

 from their quarry, leaving the 

 rest to be devoured by ants 

 or other scavengers. While 

 the larger predaceous beetles 

 attack many of the larger insects, smaller species, such as 

 ladybirds, assail other minute insects, such as the aphids 

 or plant lice. 



The bugs are the vampires of the insect world. Armed 

 with a strong proboscis, the bug pursues its 

 prey, pierces it and sucks its juices, leaving it 

 drained and lifeless ; but the so-called parasitic 

 insects feed in a manner entirely different. 



Certain families of the Hymenoptera and 

 Diptera contain parasitic genera and species. 

 These insects range in size from that of a large 

 wasp down to that of a small midge. Most of 

 them have the habit of depositing their eggs 

 on, or in, the bodies of other living insects. 



Each ichneumon fly is armed with a long 

 ovipositor, which operates somewhat like a 

 hollow sting, by means of which it is en- 

 abled to pierce the skins of the larv£e of 

 other insects arid pass its eggs through the 

 ^to^rZTZ'. P'^icture, depositing them in the body tis- 



These eggs soon 



Fig. 10. — Pre- 

 daceous beetle; 

 a tiger among 

 insects. 



Imago, natural size 

 and enlarged. 



sues beneath the skin. 



hatch, and the young larvae, emerging from 



