HABITS OF THE ABEPHAGA* 
345 
“ As if inlaid 
With brilliants from the mine, or made 
Of rainbows.” 
Are forms wonderful and peculiar considered worthy of investigation ?— 
“ Their shape would make them, had they bulk and size, 
More hideous foes than fancy can devise;— 
With helmet-heads, and dragon-scales adorned 
The mighty myriads, now securely scorned, 
Would mock the majesty of Man’s high birth. 
Despise his bulwarks, and unpeople earth.’’ 
It will be the object of this paper to take a brief glance at the habits, &c., of 
the species contained in the first section of Coleoptera—Adephaga —a few 
observations on the classification of which appeared in the November number of 
The 'Naturalist (p. 73). 
I.— Transformations , Food , &c.—The tribe Carabacea , R., is a very extensive 
group, comprising as it does according to Dejean’s enumeration, 2,500 species, of 
which at least 450 occur in Britain. With few exceptions these Beetles (and 
the remark applies generally to the other Coleoptera) remain a considerable length 
of time in the larva state, during which period they change their skin several 
times. In this stage they are provided with six legs; the body linear-elongate; 
the head large, armed with sharp hooked mandibles, and having the rudimental 
eyes equal.* Their food principally consists of vegetable-feedinglarvse, which they 
hunt and devour with avidity. The grub of Calosoma sycophanta even ascends 
trees in quest of its prey, and Reaumur relates that it often intrudes in the nests 
of the social caterpillars of Bombyx processionea, on which it makes so hearty a meal 
as to render itself incapable of motion, and “almost ready to burst/’f In this 
defenceless state it is attacked and devoured by its more active brethren, apparently 
in preference to their natural food ! When transformed into nymphcef Carabacea 
remain motionless, taking no nourishment—the antennse, legs, &c., being enclosed 
in separate sheaths, and the whole protected by a membranous covering, through 
which the form of the insect may generally be distinguished. The parts having 
attained a proper consistence, the Beetle has sufficient strength to break its shell, 
and commences its career of destruction and warfare. 
* The' number of eves possessed by Carabaceous larvae is various. They generally have, I 
believe, six on each side, but so few comparatively have been investigated, that it would be wrong 
to speak positively. Cicindelidos have three on each side of the head, and M. Desmarest has 
described a larva of Omophron having only two eyes. 
4 Kirby and Spence, Introd ., I., p. 269. 
7 This_term was first used by Aristotle, and is synonymous with the “ incomplete pupeS”^ of 
Linn-eus, which latter term has been adopted by many modern naturalists. 
