COLEOPTERA . 
517 
males also the first three segments of the anterior tarsi are 
usually dilated and densely clothed with hair beneath. 
It has been said that these beetles make burrows in 
which to retire from the rain and cold. We have seen them 
in September digging burrows in a hillside; these descended 
slightly and were about five inches deep. The beetles kicked 
the dirt out behind them as they dug, so that it lay in a 
heap at the opening of the hole. But we were unable to 
discover whether these burrows were made as dwellings, or, 
what is more likely, places in which to deposit eggs. No 
observation as to the egg-laying habits of these insects has 
come to our notice. 
The tiger-beetle larvae (Fig. 619) are as ugly and ungrace¬ 
ful as the adults are beautiful. The two have only one habit 
in common—their eagerness for prey. The 
larvae live in vertical burrows in sandy places 
or in beaten paths. These burrows occur also 
in ploughed fields that have become dry and 
hard. They often extend a foot or more in 
depth. The larva takes a position of watch¬ 
fulness at the mouth of its burrow. Its dirt- 
colored head is bent at right angles to its Flc 6ig ._Larva 
lighter-colored body and makes a neat plug to of Cictndela - 
the opening of the hole. Its rapacious jaws extend upward, 
wide open, ready to seize the first unwary insect that walks 
over this living trap. On the fifth segment of the abdomen 
there is a hump, and on this hump are two hooks curved 
forward. This is an arrangement by which the little rascal 
can hold back and keep from being jerked out of its hole 
when it gets some large insect by the leg, and by which it 
can drag its struggling prey down into its lair, where it may 
eat it at leisure. It is interesting to thrust a straw down 
into one of these burrows, and then dig it out with a trowel. 
The chances are that you will find the indignant inhabitant 
at the remote end of the burrow, chewing savagely at the 
end of the intruding straw. 
