COLEOPTERA. 



545 



beetle jumped so high that it betrayed us and was liber- 

 ated, and we were disgraced. 



Our common species of click-beetles are mostly small or 

 of medium size, ranging from one tenth to three fourths of 

 an inch in length. A few species are larger, some reaching 

 the length of nearly two inches. The majority of the 

 species are of a uniform brownish color; 

 some are black or grayish, and some are 

 conspicuously spotted (Fig. 654). The body 

 is elongated, somewhat flattened, and tapers 

 more or less towards each end ; the antennae 

 are moderately elongated, and more or less FlG 

 serrate ; the first and second abdominal seg- 

 ments are not grown together on the ventral 

 side; and the hind coxae are each furnished with a groove 

 for the reception of the femur. 



The larvae of click-beetles are long, narrow, worm-like 

 creatures, very even in width, with a very hard covering, 

 and are brownish or yellowish white in color (Figs. 655 and 



FIG. 655. 



654. A click- 

 beetle. Drasterius 

 dorsalis, natural 

 si/e and enlarged. 



FIG. 656. 



656). They are commonly known as wire-worms, a name 

 suggested by the form and hardness of the body. 



Some wire-worms live under the bark of trees and in 

 rotten wood ; but many of them live in the ground, and 

 feed on seeds and the roots of grass and grain. In fact 

 there is hardly a cultivated plant that they do not infest ; 

 and, working as they do beneath the surface of the ground, 

 it is extremely difficult to destroy them. Not only do they 

 infest a great variety of plants, but they are very apt to 

 attack them at the most susceptible period of their growth, 

 before they have attained sufficient size and strength to 

 withstand the attack ; and often seed is destroyed before 

 it has germinated. Thus fields of corn or other grain are 



