176 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Coleoptera. — Of the vast beetle army which are concentrated 

 in gardens none are more familiar than certain representatives 

 of the genus Carabus, or Ground beetles, and none are entitled 

 to greater respect at the hands of the gardener. It is the type 

 of the great family CarabidcB, to which belong by far the greatest 

 number of carnivorous species. Indeed with two or three excep- 

 tions none are vegetable feeders. No garden is too small to 

 yield its quota of these insects, which are not only large but 



often beautifully 

 coloured. Three 

 species are com- 

 monly met with in 

 gardens: C.ncmo- 

 ralis, Fig. 35 (C. 

 hortensis of some 

 authors), with 

 brassy, coppery, 

 or green wing- 

 cases ; C. viola- 

 ceus, with black 

 wing-cases, whose 

 margins are vari- 

 ously coloured 

 with blue, purple, 

 or bright red; and 

 C. monilis, with 

 green, coppery, or 

 violet wing-cases 

 elegantly granu- 

 lated, each of three 



rows of dots being divided by raised lines. All are familiar and 

 equally lovely. Neither of these beetles is capable of flight ; 

 for the simple reason that it possesses no wings ; while the 

 wing-cases if examined will be found ''soldered," as it is termed. 

 Though they are not able to fly, they can run with great 

 rapidity, and will travel long distances in search of food. Their 

 good deeds are undoubtedly lost sight of by the majority of 

 gardeners, as the insects are nocturnal, lying concealed during 

 the day-time under stones, flower-pots, and the like. They are 

 exceedingly rapacious, and with their powerful jaws soon make 



Fig. 35. — Carabus nemokalis (twice natural size). 



