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CHAPTER VIII. 
BURROWING BEETLES. 
The Tiger Beetle, and its habits — Beauty of the Insect, its Larva, and mode 
of life— Curious form of its Burrow — The Sexton Beetle, and its power of 
digging in the ground — The Dor Beetle, and the substances into which it 
Barrows — Use of the Dor Beetle — The Scarab^eus of Egypt and its won- 
derful Instincts — The Egg, the Grub, and the Cocoon — Cocoon in the 
British Museum — The Mole Cricket, its form and elaborate Dwelling— 
- Its general Habits, and wide distribution — The Field Cricket, and its 
Tunnels — The May-Fly, and its home — The Ant-Lion, its form, food, and 
mode of life — The Pitfall and its structure — Mode of catching Prey — Perfect 
form of the Ant-Lion. 
We now come to the Burrowing Beetles, of which there are no 
few species. 
First among the British coleoptera comes the lovely Tiger 
Beetle ( Cicindda campestris ), an insect which, though small, 
can challenge comparison with the most beautiful exotic speci- 
mens. It is the fiercest, handsomest, and most active of all 
the British coleoptera, using legs and wings with equal agility, 
running or flying with such speed that its form cannot be clearly 
defined, and settling on the ground or taking to wing with equal 
ease. As it darts through the air, the burnished surface of the 
abdomen flashes in the sunbeams as if a living gem had passed 
•by, earning for its owner the popular title of Sparkler Beetle. 
This insect is a mighty burrower, exhibiting, even in its 
larval condition, some of that fiery energy which actuates it 
when it has reached its perfect condition. Sandy banks are 
the chief resorts of the Tiger Beetle, which in this country 
seems seldom or never to alight upon trees, restricting itself to 
bare and sandy soil. It even avoids those spots which are 
covered with grass and herbage, cares nothing for shade, and 
