THE PREDACEOUS INSECTS 165 



hunt their prey in a more restricted range. Tiger Beetles 

 are to be found in open sunny spaces, as along highways 

 and byways, or on the sandy shores of lakes 

 and streams. They greedily devour such 

 insects as they find in their eager wander- 

 ings. The long legs are fitted for rapid run- 

 ning ; the large eyes are fitted for seeing over 



a wide area : the strong iaws are fitted for '^^'^^ beetle 



° ' Larva 



sudden grasping, and the well-developed 



wings are fitted for quick flight on the approach of danger. 

 The wing-covers, legs, and body wall are very hard and 

 often brilliantly colored in metallic hues. 



In early life the Tiger Beetles are curious grublike 

 larvae that live in burrows in hard ground, as along beaten 

 paths and sandy shores. These burrows are vertical holes, 

 nearly as large as the diameter of a lead pencil. The larvae 

 have a strangely flattened head with long, widespread- 

 ing jaws. Each lies in wait at the top of the burrow, 

 practically invisible on the smooth surface of the ground. 

 When an unsuspecting caterpillar or other insect passes 

 over the waiting head, the jaws grasp the victim, which is 

 quickly dragged into the burrow to be devoured at leisure. 

 From an economic point of view the familiar Uttle Lady- 

 bird Beetles (Coccinellidae) are perhaps 

 the most important of all the predaceous 

 beetles. These brightly Colored little crea- 

 tures, in both their larval and adult stages, 

 feed chiefly upon the destructive aphides 



or plant lice, destro3dng every year billions 

 Ladybird Beetle ^f ^jjg pggts. 



Wherever you find a colony of aphides 

 sucking the sap from living plants, there you are likely to 

 find some of the Ladybirds at work. They lay their eggs 



