THE BEETLES 



147 



and with the prothorax greatly widened, giving them the name 

 'flat-headed borers," which is also often applied to the family. 



They are to be found beneath 

 bark, making irregular cham- 

 bers in the sapwood and in the 

 inside of the bark. Some feed 

 only on dead or dying tim- 

 ber, while others, like the 

 flat-headed apple-borer, attack 

 healthy trees and often cause 

 their destruction. One of the 

 common smaller species is the 

 red-necked blackberry-borer. 



Fi<;. 208. Flat-headed apple-tree borer. 

 (Twice natural size) 



It is a third of an inch long, 



, larva ; /', beetle ; , head of male ; </, pupa 

 (After Chittenden, United States Department with black Wing-COVCrS, dark 

 of Agriculture) i 111 



bronze head, and coppery 



bronze prothorax. The larva bores in the sapwood of the rasp- 

 berry and blackberry, causing a gall-like swelling, and when full 

 grown bores into the pith, 

 where it pupates. 



The fireflies (Lampyri- 

 dae) which twinkle in the 

 dusk of a warm summer 

 evening are not really 



flies, but beetles, though pic. 209. A firefly beetle (Photinns pyralis) 

 their bodies and wing- <z, larva ;, pupa in cell ; <r, adult. (After Riiey) 



covers are much softer 



in texture than those of most beetles. Most of the fireflies are 



medium-sized beetles, about half an 

 inch long, of dull colors, with the pro- 

 thorax expanded so as to cover the 

 head. They are nocturnal in habit, 

 the phosphorescent glow being pro- 

 duced bv the underside of the ter- 



J 



minal abdominal segments. Many of 



FIG. 210. Soldier-beetle (Chanli- the f emales are w i ng l e ss and are also 

 ognathus pennsylvamcus) i i 



phosphorescent, being known as glow- 



a, larva ; , its head enlarged ; r, . 



adult. (After Riiey) worms. The larvae are predacious. 



