PART II. 



CICINDELIim 



The CiciNDBLiDiE, or Tiger Beetles, as they are commonly called, 

 on account of their activity and ferocity, are very closely allied 

 to the Carabibje, of which they are considered by some authors 

 to be a subfamily ; they appear, however, to be distinct, both 

 from their life-history and from their structure. The clypeus 

 extends laterally on both sides in front of the insertion of the 

 antenna?, whereas in the CARABiDiE it does not reach as fat* as 

 the points at which they are inserted (fig. 98). The ligula and 

 paraglossa? are only slightly developed, and in nearly all cases the 

 large inner lobe of the maxilla is terminated by a sharp articulated 

 hook : the latter character, however, can hardly be regarded as 

 distinctive, as the moveable hook is entirely wanting in the 

 Cicindelid genera Ctenostoma and Pogonostoma, while it is present 

 in the Carabid genus Trigonodactyla. The curious formation of 



Fig. 98. — Head of Cicindela (right), Carabus (left). 



the appendages of the last abdominal segments in the female, 

 to which sufficient attention has hardly yet been paid by writers, 

 may be regarded as a distinctive character, and the wing venation 

 is also different, the areola oblonga, which is so characteristic of 

 most of the Carabida?, being absent. 



The general characteristics of the family are as follows : — 

 Head large ; eyes prominent or very prominent ; maxilla? with 

 the outer lobe forming a two-jointed palpus (except in the genus 

 TJierates, in which it is rudimentary and resembles a stout seta) 

 and the inner lobe elongate and furnished at the end with an 

 articulated hook-like process (except in the genera Pogonostoma 

 and Ctenostoma) ; antenna? 11-jointed, filiform, or occasionally 

 somewhat incrassate towards the apex, inserted on the forehead 

 above the base of the mandibles ; clypeus extending laterally in 

 front of the insertion of the antenna? ; elytra covering, or nearly 

 covering, the abdomen ; wings usually large and powerful, hut 



