Mr. Curtii^ on E later noctilucus, ^79 



Art. XXXVIII. An account of Elater Noctilucus, the 

 Fire-fly of the West Indies, By John Curtis, Esc[. 

 EL.S., Sfc. 



By the zeal and enterprize of our countrymen, no nation 

 perhaps ever enjoyed greater advantages than our own in the 

 possession of valuable materials in Natural History, whether we 

 regard their variety or the distant sources from whence they have 

 been drawn; and in no branch of science have these advantages 

 been more manifest than in Entomology. This department admits 

 of more easy and perfect investigation than many others, from its 

 objects generally retaining their form and colour after death ; 

 although there are some whose beauty fades, and others whose 

 natural figure is impaired, by the extinction of life. It is there- 

 fore a fortunate circumstance when naturalists have an opportunity 

 of seeing in a living state those objects whose characters are eva-r 

 nescent, as they are thereby enabled to avoid error and mis- 

 representations. 



The following attempt to elucidate the history and oeconomy of 

 an Insect that has long been celebrated abroad for its striking 

 qualities, and which seldom fails to attract the attention of Euro- 

 peans, will not, I trust, prove unacceptable. For the opportunity 

 of making the following remarks I must express my obligations to 

 my friend John Campbell Lees, Esq., F.H.S., to whose kindness 

 I am indebted for living specimens of the Insect, as well as for the 

 most valuable of my observations. 



Order. Coleoptera. 



Family. Elaterides, Latr. Elaterid^, Leach. 



Genus. Elater, Linnaeus, &c. 



NocTiLucus. E. thoracis lateribus macultijlava glabra. Linn., 

 Syst. Nat., V. 2. p. 651, n. 4. De Geer, Ins. v. 4, p. 160,2. 

 Tab. 18, f. 1. Oliv., Ent. v. 2. gen. 31, p. 15, n. 13. Tab. 

 2, f. 14 a. 



Length from 13 to 17 lines. 



Desc. Dull castaneous, thickly and minutely punctuated, and 



