CICINDELIDAE TIGER-BEETLES 



203 



ments of the palpi and labrum (Fig. 91). The tiger-beetles, 

 like most other Insects that capture living prey, do not consume 

 their victims entire, but subsist chiefly on the juices they 

 squeeze out of them ; the hard and innutritious parts a.re rejected 

 after the victim has been thoroughly lacerated and squeezed ; the 

 mouth forms both trap and 

 press ; the palpi spread out 



in order to facilitate the \ fJ^K^^^^ ./ 



rapid engulfing of a victim, tmV^S^& 



then close up under it and 



help to support it in the ,-■ ^^^-? , "'^4.- <^ 



mouth ; while the labrum j 



above closes the cavity in 



the other direction. The ,, M.,mFj-ji'J>mum, /■ 



mouth itself is a large cavity 



communicating very freely 



with the exterior, but so p.-.,- _a^/ : v»»^ 



completely shut off from the ^"^^^ ^i ^ V— 7^ 



following parts of the ali- ^ 



f 1 fv. f 'f ' ^^'^' ^^' — Mouth-parts of tiger - beetles. A, 



meniary Canai tnat. it is Profile of Pogonostoma sp. (Madagascar) : a, 



difficult to find the orifice of antenna ; b, labial palp ; c, maxillary palp ; 



, . ^^ ^ ^ ■ d, palpiform lobe of maxilla ; e, mandible ; /', 



communication ; the labium labrum. B, Section of head of Mantkon, 



l.)eing much modified to inaxUlosa (South Africa) : a, front of upper 



, . part of head-capsule ; 6, gula ; c, tentorium ; 



lOrm the posterior wall. <;, eye ; e, labrum ; /, left mandible ; g, max- 



For the capture of the prev, "^^^ ''■ ™^'''"ary palp ; i, labial palp ; k, 



. ■*■ i. ^ support of this palji ; /, labium. 



always living but of various 



kinds, a mechanism with great holding power and capable of 

 rapid action is required. The mouth of the terrestrial Manticora 

 (Fig. 91, B), exhibits great strength ; some of the chitinous parts 

 are extremely thick, the mandibles are enormous, the palpi, how- 

 ever, are comparatively low in development. In the arboreal 

 genus Pogonostoma the palpary structures (Fig. 91, A) attain a 

 development scarcely equalled elsewhere in the Insect world. The 

 great majority of the Cicindelidae are inhabitants of the warmer, 

 or of the tropical regions of the world, and very little is known as 

 to their life-histories ; they show great diversity in their modes 

 of hunting their prey. Some are wingless ; others are active on 

 the wing ; and of both of these divisions there are forms that are 

 found only on trees or bushes. Some, it is believed, frequent 

 only the mounds of Termites. The characteristic feature common 



