COLEOFTERA. S^7 



males also the first three segments of the anterior tarsi are 

 usually dilated and densely clothed with hair beneath. 



It has been said that these beetles make burrows in 

 which to retire from the rain and cold. We have ^een them 

 in September digging burrows in a hillside; these descended 

 slightly and were about five inches deep. The beetles kicked 

 the dirt out behind them as they dug, so that it lay in a 

 heap at the opening of the hole. But we were unable to 

 discover whether these burrows were made as dwellings, or, 

 what is more likely, places in which to deposit eggs. No 

 observation as to the egg-laying habits of these insects has 

 come to our notice. 



The tiger-beetle larvae (Fig. 619) are as ugly and ungrace- 

 ful as the adults are beautiful. The two have only one habit 

 in common — their eagerness for prey. The 

 larvae live in vertical burrows in sandy places 

 or in beaten paths. These burrows occur also 

 in ploughed fields that have become dry and 

 hard. They often extend a foot or more in 

 depth. The larva takes a position of watch- 

 fulness at the mouth of its burrow. Its dirt- 

 colored head is bent at right angles to its p^^ 619 — Larva 

 lighter-colored body and makes a neat plug to °^ adndeia. 

 the opening of the hole. Its rapacious jaws extend upward, 

 wide open, ready to seize the first unwary insect that walks 

 over this living trap. On the fifth segment of the abdomen 

 there is a hump, and on this hump are two hooks curved 

 forward. This is an arrangement by which the little rascal 

 can hold back and keep from being jerked out of its hole 

 when it gets some large insect by the leg, and by which it 

 can drag its struggling prey down into its lair, where it may 

 eat it at leisure. It is interesting to thrust a straw down 

 into one of these burrows, and then dig it out with a trowel. 

 The chances are that you will find the indignant inhabitant 

 at the remote end of the burrow, chewing savagely at the 

 end of the intruding straw. 



