GROUND BEETLES, the family Cara)i r, predatory beetles of various sizes and ap pearance. It contains upwards of 1,200 de scribed species, nearly all of nocturnal habit, and, consequently, dark, mostly black in color. Some species, however, are metallic green or blue, or beautifully variegated. The family con tains many beneficial species, which roam fields, meadows and gardens, destroying many injuri ous pests. They fly freely at night and seek concealment in the daytime under stones and logs and in other convenient hiding-places. Most species are terrestrial, but a few forms, such as species of Calosonsa, known as "cater pillar-hunters,' climb the trunks of trees in search of noxious caterpillars which they de stroy. A remarkable genus is that of the bom bardier beetles (q.v.). A very few are occa sionally injurious, among them Agonoderus pallipes, which burrows into newly-planted seeds of corn; and two species of Ifarpalus which are destructive to strawberries. These latter insects are interesting because of their dual habit of being carnivorous as well as herbiv orous. They attack, in the beetle stage, the
seeds of Ambrosia, and also eat insects of various kinds. In form the species vary greatly; the antenna are inserted behind the -base of mandibles under a frontal ridge; maxilla with the outer lobe palpiform usually bi-articulate, while the inner lobe is usually curved acute and ciliate with spines. The epimera and epistern'a of the phothorax are usually distinct; the three anterior segments of the abdomen, usually six, rarely seven or eight in number, are connate.
The legs are slender, formed for running; anterior and middle coxes globular, posterior ones dilated internally, and the tarsi are five jointed. They are runners and do not fly, the hind wings being often absent. The larva are found in much the same situation as the adult beetles, and are generally oblong, broad, with the terminal ring around with two horny hooks or longer filaments and with a single false leg beneath.