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THE TIGER BEETLES. 
or Sparklers. These Beetles are represented by several species, among which the common 
Tioek Beetle ( Cicindela campestris ) is the most common and perhaps the most beautiful. 
Well does this little creature deserve its popular name, for what the dragon-fly is to the 
air, what the shark is to the sea, the Tiger Beetle is to the earth ; running with such rapidity 
that the eye can hardly follow its course ; armed with jaws like two reaper’s sickles crossing 
each other at the points ; furnished with eyes that project from the sides of the head and 
permit the creature to see in every direction without turning itself ; and, lastly, gifted with 
agile wings that enable it to rise in the air as readily as a fly or a wasp. Moreover, it is 
covered with a suit of mail, gold embossed, gem studded, and burnished with more than steely 
brightness, light yet strong, and though freely yielding to every movement, yet so marvellously 
jointed as to leave no vulnerable points even when in full action, and, in fine, such a suit of 
armor as no monarch ever possessed and no artist ever conceived. True, to the naked or 
unobservant eye it seems to be but a dully green Beetle with a blue abdomen, but if placed 
under the microscope, and a powerful light directed upon it, it blazes out with such gorgeous 
brilliancy that the eye can scarcely endure the glory of its raiment. 
Tricondyla walldceii. Cicindela octonotata. 
Manticora latipennis. Anthia mleata. 
Harpalus cdspicus. Lebia crux-minor. 
The typical species which is represented in the illustration is the Eight-spot Tiger 
Beetle of India. 
The European Tiger Beetle is remarkable for exuding a powerful scent, much resembling 
the odor produced by a crushed verbena leaf. 
The family Cicindelidce , which embraces the group of Tiger Beetles, so called, probably, 
from their singular markings and stripes, is represented in North America by a number of 
species. Their habits are terrestrial. During hot mid-summer days they are met with in 
dirty roadsides, or roadbeds, running or flying so swiftly they are difficult to capture. In 
the tropics the species are fond of trees. 
An example of a very large genus belonging to this family is given in the engraving 
under the title of Manticora latipennis , the generic title being given to it because its 
great dimensions and ferocious habits are thought to bear some analogy with those of the 
fabeled Manticora, a beast which the older naturalists were accustomed to describe with great 
zest, and in an engraving now before me had figured with the face of a human being, with 
hair carefully parted, six rows of shark’s teeth, and a tail armed with a very arsenal of 
projectile spikes. 
