262 
COLEOBTERA. 
species are widespread outside India, and of the species recorded from 
Sind, many are probably not Indian at all. 
Collecting. —These beetles cannot be caught without a good net 
and should always be killed at once or kept apart till they can be killed. 
Their larvae can be found if looked for, but we have not heard of any 
being reared in confinement. The greatest desideratum is close obser¬ 
vation of the food of both larvae and adults as the actual species they 
prey on is known in very few instances and unti] this is known their eco¬ 
nomic value must be doubtful. They will be found only in moist soil, 
and are abundant in lands where silt is deposited after flood. 
Carabid^.— Predaceous Ground Beetles. 
Antennce filiform ; the tarsi all five-jointed , clypeus not extending 
laterally in front of base of antennce, maxillce not hooked. 
These beetles are widely distinguished from all others ; the only 
family with which they are likely to be confused being the Cicindelidce 
which have the lateral extension of the clypeus in front of the antennae. 
The two families are very closely connected and authorities are not un¬ 
animous as to their separation. The beetles vary in size from small to 
moderately large, the smallest one-quarter of an inch long, the largest 
nearly one inch. The colouring is varied, often black or brown, some¬ 
times with bright patches of yellow, and it is often strikingly warning. 
(Anthia sexguttata). As a whole it is the characteristic sombre dark 
colouring of ground insects, similar to that of Tenebrionidce, Blattidce, 
Forficulidce, etc. The body is usually oval, broader than in Cicindelidce 
and more flattened. The antennae are filiform, rarely moniliform, not 
elbowed and projecting conspicuously in front of the head. The com¬ 
pound eyes are large, the mouth-parts conspicuous and long, the biting 
predaceous type with long curved mandibles. The prothorax is large, 
the elytra fitting tightly to the body, often with rows of pits or with 
lines. The body is, as in nearly all Coleoptera, enclosed in hard well¬ 
fitting chitinous plates, whose morphology is the basis of the classifica¬ 
tion of this large family. The legs are moderately long, fitted for 
rapid running or short and thickened, fitted for burrowing, the tarsal 
joints distinct, the claws well formed. In the males the basal tarsal 
joint of the fore leg is expanded. The elytra are in some species 
soldered together and do not open, there being no wings below and flight 
