The Cicindela campestris ([Fig. 523]), or Tiger Beetle, is of a beautiful green, spotted with white; the abdomen is of a bronze red. In this country it is the commonest of the genus. The Cicindela hybrida, of a dull green, relieved by light bands, inhabits sandy woods. The Cicindela maritima differs from the preceding. The Cicindela sylvatica, which flies very well, is not easy to catch, and is to be often met with in the warm glades of the forest of Fontainebleau and at Montmorency; it is not unfrequent here. Its colour is brown, spotted with white; it diffuses a strong smell of the rose, to which succeeds, on being seized, the acrid odour of the secretion which it disgorges. We here represent the Cicindela Dumoulinii ([Fig. 524]), the Cicindela rugosa ([Fig. 525]), the Cicindela scalaris ([Fig. 526]), the Cicindela heros ([Fig. 527]), the Cicindela quadrilineata ([Fig. 528]), and the Cicindela capensis ([Fig. 529]).
| Fig. 524.—Cicindela Dumoulinii. | Fig. 525.—Cicindela rugosa. | Fig. 526.—Cicindela scalaris. |
The ferocity of these insects is remarkable. They quickly tear off the wings and legs of their victim, and suck out the contents of its abdomen. Often, when they are disturbed in this agreeable occupation, not wishing to leave it, they fly away with their prey; their flight, however, is not sufficiently powerful to allow of their carrying to any great distance such a heavy burden. When a Cicindela is seized between the fingers, it moves about its mandibles and en deavours to pinch, but its bite is inoffensive and not very painful. They are prodigiously active in running. Armed with jaws which are powerful enough to overcome their victims and to seize them at once, they can dispense with stratagem.
| Fig. 527.—Cicindela heros. | Fig. 528.—Cicindela quadrilineata. | Fig. 529.—Cicindela capensis. |
| Fig. 530.—Larva of Cicindela campestris. | Fig. 531.—Ambush of larva of Cicindela campestris. |
Their larvæ ([Fig. 530]) are soft, and have short legs. To satisfy their voracity they are obliged to lie in ambush in holes. They are two-thirds of an inch long; their head is horny and in the form of a trapezium. The first segment is also horny, and of a metallic green. The eighth has a pair of tubercles with hooks, of which the larva makes use in ascending and descending its vertical hole, like a sweep in a chimney. This hole ([Fig. 531]) is a foot or more deep. To dig it, the larva employs its mandibles and its legs in the following manner: it twists itself round, loads with earth the flat surface which covers its head, climbs along the chimney by twisting itself into the form of the letter Z, and thus transports its load, as a bricklayer's labourer carries a hod of mortar up a ladder. Arrived at the mouth of the hole, it throws to a distance the rubbish with which its head is loaded; or, if too heavy, it simply deposits it, pushing it away as far as possible. It is difficult to watch their proceedings, for they are very mistrustful, and retire immediately into their hole when alarmed. They remain in ambush at the entrances of these subterranean passages, which they hermetically seal with their head and thorax. It is a species of pitfall which sets itself in motion the moment anything endeavours to pass it. The unfortunate who ventures is precipitated into the well, and the Cicindela forthwith devours it. These habits remind one of those of the ant-lion. When the time arrives for the metamorphosis, the larva of the Cicindela enlarges the bottom of its hole, and stops up the entrance with earth before changing. The pupa (Figs. 532, 533) is of a pale glossy yellow, covered with small spines. The metamorphosis takes place between August and October; the perfect insect emerges in spring.
| Fig. 534.—Tetracha Klugii. | Fig. 535.—Tetracha oxychiloides. |
Nearly akin to the Cicindelas are the Tetrachas (Figs. [534], [535], [536]), from Africa and tropical America; the Manticoras ([Fig. 537]), which are distinguished by their robust and thick-set appearance; the Pogonostomas ([Fig. 538]), which live in Madagascar; the Ctenostomas, peculiar to America ([Fig. 539]), remarkable for the length of their pendent and bristly palpi; the Omus, of California; the Therates ([Fig. 540]), insects of the East Indian Islands, &c.