THE CICINDELID/E. 
303 
just mentioned they are admirably adapted to act as carnivorous 
creatures. The common green tiger beetle, Cicindela campestris, 
is well known in Europe, North Africa, and in Asia Minor. It 
is of a beautiful sea-green colour, with copper tints upon the 
head, the body, and the margins of the elytra, which assume a 
fiery look when in the full sunlight. These insects are very in- 
teresting when they are larvae, and their habits and artifices 
resemble those of some very different genera. The larvae live 
in the same localities as the adults, and these last are so per- 
fectly covered in by their thick integument, and are so active, 
that they have no fear of wounds, and can readily escape from 
too active an enemy. The larvae have all the desire for slaughter 
evinced by their parents, but their delicate skins, long bodies, and 
short legs, not only prevent them from chasing prey, but from at- 
tempting a struggle with an insect of any size ; nevertheless, these 
imperfectly armed creatures manage to obtain their prey without 
exposing themselves to much risk. They have short, thick, and 
spiny legs, which enable them to dig holes in the ground, and 
they have a flat head, with which they cast forth the pieces of 
earth they have detached, and furnished with these instruments 
they construct a vertical tunnel, which curves at a certain depth 
and becomes a horizontal gallery. The larva has a coriaceous plate 
on each of the segments of its body, and there are two fleshy 
tubercles upon the fifth ring of the abdomen, which is larger 
and more swollen than the others, and which are provided with 
hooks that curve forwards. The insect crawls in its tunnel with 
ease, and if it wishes to remain set fast it sticks the back of 
its body against the sides, and rests safely with the aid of its 
hooks. In this position it can poke its head out of the ground, 
and it closes the entrance of its tunnel and waits until some little 
ant or other insect passes over. The top of the larva’s head 
forms the floor of the cavity down which the insects are expected 
to fall, and when one of them touches it the larva descends 
at once and with great precipitation. The prey feels the soil 
giving way beneath its feet, and falls down the hole, and is 
forthwith eaten by the larva, which is soon ready for another. 
When full grown it closes the orifice of its hole, and undergoes 
the metamorphoses. 
