of the head are very perfect. Supporting itself at the top of the burrow by means of these hooks and of its terminal tube, the larva blocks the mouth of the burrow with its large head and prothorax, and {202}in this position waits for its prey. This consists of Insects that may alight on the spot or run over it. When an Insect ventures within reach, the head of the larva is thrown back with a rapid jerk, the prey is seized by the long sharp mandibles, dragged to the bottom of the burrow and devoured. The burrows are often more than a foot deep, and are said to be excavated by the larva itself, which carries up the earth on the shovel-like upper surface of its head. The female tiger-beetle is endowed with powerful and elongate excavating instruments at the termination of the body, and it is probable that when placing the egg in the earth she facilitates the future operations of the larva by forming the outlines of the burrow. Extremely few larvae of Cicindelidae are known, but they all exhibit the type of structure mentioned above, and apparently have similar habits. Our little British _Cicindela_, most of which are so active on the wing, agree in these respects with the African species of _Manticora_, which are entirely apterous, and are the largest of the Cicindelidae. Péringuey found a breeding-ground of _M. tuberculata_ near Kimberley; the larvae were living in the usual Cicindelid manner; but the ground was so hard that he was not able to investigate the burrows, and there were but few Insects that could serve as food in the neighbourhood. [Illustration: Fig. 90—_Cicindela hybrida._ Britain. A, larva (after Schiödte); B, imago, male.] The Cicindelidae, although one of the smaller families of Coleoptera, now number about 1400 species; of these about one-half belong to the great genus _Cicindela_, to which our four British representatives of the Cicindelidae are all assigned. There is no general work of much consequence on this important family, and its classification is not thoroughly established.[86] {203}[Illustration: Fig. 91—Mouth-parts of tiger-beetles. A, Profile of _Pogonostoma_ sp. (Madagascar): _a_, antenna; _b_, labial palp; _c_, maxillary palp; _d_, palpiform lobe of maxilla; _e_, mandible; _f_, labrum. B, Section of head of _Manticora maxillosa_ (South Africa): _a_, front of upper part of head-capsule; _b_, gula; _c_, tentorium; _d_, eye; _e_, labrum; _f_, left mandible; _g_, maxilla; _h_, maxillary palp; _i_, labial palp; _k_, support of this palp; _l_, labium.]