THE SUBSTITUTE. 
71 
Ibe any peculiarity of Mr. Dallas’ 
: arrangement, as it is the common 
I fate of all systems of classifica- 
Itions to cause dissatisfaction to 
■ some, and were this not so, man 
"would scarcely be human. 
At Chapter V. we come to the 
• Coleopiera or Beetles, a class of 
I insects which during the next three 
1 months are more sought after 
I than any others, and here we will 
: give an extract to enable our rea- 
I ders to judge for themselves; for 
after all, they can better judge of 
I the nature of the book from a 
: sample than from anything we 
1 might say of it. We might have 
i a bias for, or against the author, 
and might therefore, unwittingly, 
■speak too highly, or else under- 
irate the usefulness of his book. 
“ Besides the common tiger- 
1 beetle {Cicindela campestris) just 
; referred to which may be met with 
lin almost all sandy or gravelly 
; places, and several other species 
: of the genus Cicindela, which are 
rmore limited in their distribution, 
■ we have in Britain an immense 
! number of other predaceous 
beetles, the scene of whose ex- 
■ ploits is on the ground. Of these, 
■a great number agree with the 
■ beautiful insect above described 
in so many important characters, 
: that they are considered to form 
l a single great group, the tribe of 
tthe Geodephaga, or Ground Pre- 
• daceous Beetles. In all these in- 
ssects the outer lobe of the maxillae 
i forms a slender-jointed organ, re- 
ssembling a short palpus of two 
'joints, which intervenes between 
ithe true maxillary palpus and the 
I'biting part of the maxilla, — hence 
'they have been described as pos- 
ssessing six palpi. The maxilla! 
i themselves terminate in a sharp 
hooked point, which in some cases 
(as in the Cicindela) is moveably 
articulated to the body of the or- 
gan. The legs are constructed 
solely for running upon solid sur- 
faces, and the tarsi are all com- 
posed of five joints. 
“Unlike the Cicindela, which, 
as we have seen, delight in the 
brightest sunshine, the majority of 
these insects are nocturnal in their 
habits, and keep themselves con- 
cealed during the day under stones 
and clods of earth, in the clefts of 
banks or beneath the fallen leaves 
of trees in woods, where they re- 
quire to be diligently sought by 
the entomologist. At nightfall 
they come forth in search of their 
prey, which they pursue for the 
most part on foot, as they appear 
to have much less power of wing 
than the tiger-beetle. 
“ There are, however, many ex- 
ceptions to the generally noctur- 
nal habits of the insects of this 
group, — a great number of the 
smaller, brilliantly metallic spe- 
cies are almost us active as the 
Cicindela under the hottest sun, 
and take wing with nearly equal 
facility. Many of these lovely 
little creatures may be found in 
profusion running about on the 
mud at the margins of ponds, 
when these begin to dry up in 
summer, whilst others, such as the 
species of the genera Amara and 
Pacilus are so abundant on our 
garden-walks that they are well 
known, even to children, under the 
name of sunshiners. Most of the 
more brilliant species, in fact, ap- 
pear to be more or less diurnal in 
their activity, whilst those which 
exhibit black or dark colours se- 
lect tbe congenial obscurity of 
night for their prowlings. 
