Note 1 — Chapter XIII · THE GOLD BEETLES: THEIR FOOD

I have twenty-five Gold-beetles (Carabus auratus, Lin.) in a large glass vivarium. At present they are motionless, cowering under a bit of board which I gave them as a shelter. With their bellies cooled by the sand and their backs warmed by the board, which is visited by the searching rays of the sun, they slumber and digest their food. By good luck I chance upon a procession of Pine-caterpillars1 descending from their tree in search of a favourable spot for burial, the prelude to the underground cocoon. Here is an excellent herd for the slaughter-house of the Carabi.