THE GENUS CALOSOMA. 13 



The raccoon when offered adult sycopTianta ate from the hand three 

 males and two females in rapid succession. The beetles were ground 

 up in coarse particles and were found in the excrement on the morn- 

 ing of January 27. The appearance of the remains in the excrement 

 very much resembled those in the excrement of the skunk. 



Even though the foregoing experiments were conducted under un- 

 natural conditions, there is little doubt that these animals destroy syco- 

 phanta and other species of Calosoma in woodland where the beetles 

 are plentiful. The skunk is the most important of these animals as 

 a natural enemy of Calosoma in New England, as it is common in 

 some sections, while the fox and raccoon are comparatively rare. 

 In other sections of the United States the latter animals may prey 

 upon Calosoma rather extensively. 



Fig. 1. — Boxes for shipping Calosoma beetles. Each match box contains a single beetle and a small 

 quantity of wet sphagnum moss. (Burgess.) 



METHODS OF SHIPPING CALOSOMA BEETLES. 



During the past few years several thousand specimens of Calo- 

 soma beetles have been received and shipped. When live adults are 

 to be forwarded and will not be in transit more than one day, they 

 can be placed in a wooden box with a small amount of twigs and foli- 

 age and sent by express or mail. It is usually desirable to bore a 

 few holes in the sides of the box and cover them with wire netting, 

 but it is not necessary to add food for the beetles as they will survive 

 the journey well unless the temperature is excessive. 



When the length of time in transit is a week or longer, each beetle 

 should be placed in a small box (a safety-match box is excellent for 

 this purpose), with a small amount of wet sphagnum moss (fig, 1). 

 No food need be added, but the packing should be such as to fur- 

 nish some moisture for the beetles until the end of the journey. 



In the writers' experience more specimens have died from lack of 

 moisture than from any other cause. Metal containers arc not desir- 

 able because too much moisture is present. The small boxes men- 

 tioned can be placed in a larger box and shipped by mail or express. 



