Dallas has an interesting passage in his _Elements of Entomology_ respecting the boldness of the larval form, which is worth quoting. ‘I have seen one engaged in a struggle, which lasted about twenty minutes, with a worm of some five inches in length, the larva being scarcely more than an inch long. During this contest the little savage crept under the worm, fixing his mandibles into the creature’s body in various places, each bite apparently producing a considerable swelling. Sometimes he would fasten upon the head of the worm, and retain his hold with the pertinacity of a thoroughbred bulldog, although twisted about in every direction by the struggles of his intended victim. At last, however, he seemed to come to the conclusion that he had been too ambitious in his desires, and went quietly off amongst the grass, rather prematurely, as it seemed to me, for when the worm began slowly to leave the field of battle, about an inch of his tail was attached to the rest of his body solely by the intestine, a union which the jaws of the larva would easily have dissolved.’ I have never seen a fight between a larva and a worm, for the few larva I have kept have been fed on flies. But the adult Beetle which has once fastened on a worm cannot be shaken off. It will grip its prey with the first pair of legs, fixing the claws in the skin, and will finish a worm three inches long at a meal. A dead specimen should be looked over in the way recommended for Dytiscus, raising the small wing-covers and unfolding the wings. The spiracles are to be looked for at the sides of the abdomen, in the groove formed by the meeting of the upper and under plates of each segment. The short downy hair with which the body is covered should be noticed, and the front legs are well worth examination. The tibia or shank is armed with a strong spine, and between this part of the leg and that which follows it is a notch, through which the Beetle passes its antennae to clean them from dirt. The peculiar shape of the joints of the tarsus or foot is very plainly discernible with the appliances at our command, and by a careful management we may make out the different kinds of hairs with which four out of the five of these joints are furnished; some stout and spine-like, others finer, ending in a pear-shaped bulb. These last probably serve the same purpose as the sucking-disks of Dytiscus and the tarsal plates of Hydrophilus. CHAPTER III COCKROACHES; EARWIGS; THE GREAT GREEN GRASSHOPPER; THE WATER SCORPION; THE WATER BOATMAN; CORIXA. The next insect to come within range of our pocket lens is the Common Cockroach (_Blatta orienta´lis_[15]), popularly misnamed the Black Beetle. We shall have no difficulty in procuring material for examination. Housekeepers will tell us that these creatures are only too plentiful.