PROCEEDINGS 
OF THE 
ROYAL PHYSICAL SOCIETY _ 
Aeonseniag | 
SS 
SESSION CXLIII. (2 aa 
\ Pate py 92 aoa 
(Ae 
I.—The Bionomics of the Tiger-beetle (Cicindela campestris) P87 7 
Lily H. Huie, F.E.S., Department of Agricultural and Forest Entomology, 
University of Edinburgh. 
(Read 20th December 1915. MS. received 22nd December 1915. ) 
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS, 
“THE egg-laying habit of the Tiger-beetles is not yet known.” So writes 
Kellogg in his fine book on “ American Insects,” and this statement supplied 
the initial stimulus for the following observations on the habits and life- 
history of Cicindela canvpestris. 
This is a well-known and conspicuous British beetle. It attracts 
attention by its brilliant green colouring, and its habit of appearing in 
considerable numbers on bright sunshiny days from April onwards, making 
short, rapid flights, or running actively on dry white roads, or sandy banks. 
It is common in the West Highlands, where the observations that follow 
were made. 
The larva, though so often figured in books of Entomology, is not in its 
native haunts so generally familiar as is the adult. But in localities 
inhabited by the adult the grub may easily be found burrowing in sand- 
banks, in peat, or even in the borders of sandy roads. It has been described 
as ugly and misshapen, but its shape gives it certain very distinct advantages. 
The great head and jaws together with a semi-circular plate on the pro-thorax 
form the mud-coloured disc which, trap-door-like, closes the mouth of the 
hole. The back curves to a hump, on which on the 8th segment behind the 
head are a pair of strong hooks directed forwards. These serve to anchor the 
larva in its burrow when catching its prey, which it does by a sudden 
outward spring at a passing insect. Further, the larva lives in a burrow 
deeper than the length of its body, and it uses the hooks to support itself in 
the upper part of the burrow while waiting for prey. 
VOL. XX. A 
