COLEOPTERA. 83 



The sides of the body in the pupa are thin-edged, and finely 

 notched, and the tail is forked. 



One of the most common kinds of Callidium found here is a 

 flattish, rusty black beetle, with some downy whitish spots across 

 the middle of the wing-covers ; the thorax is nearly circular, is 

 covered with fine whitish down, and has two elevated polished 

 black points upon it ; and the wing-covers are very coarsely punc- 

 tured. It measures from four tenths to three quarters of an inch 

 in length. This insect is the Callidium bajulus ; the second 

 name, meaning a porter, was given to it by Linnaeus on account 

 of the whitish patch which it bears on its back. It inhabits fir, 

 spruce, and hemlock wood and lumber, and may often be seen on 

 wooden buildings and fences in July and August. We are inform- 

 ed by Kirby and Spence that the grubs sometimes greatly injure 

 the wood-work of houses in London, piercing the rafters of the 

 roofs in every direction, and, when arrived at maturity, even pene- 

 trating through sheets of lead which covered the place of their 

 exit. One piece of lead, only eight inches long and four broad, 

 contained twelve oval holes made by these insects, and fragments 

 of the lead were found in their stomachs. As this insect is now 

 common in the maritime parts of the United States, it was prob- 

 ably first brought to this country by vessels from Europe. 



The violet Callidium, Callidium violaccum*, is of a Prussian 

 blue or violet color ; the thorax is transversely oval, and downy, 

 and sometimes has a greenish tinge ; and the wing-covers are 

 rough with thick irregular punctures. Its length varies from four 

 to six tenths of an inch. It may be found in great abundance on 

 piles of pine wood, from the middle of May to the first of June ; 

 and the larvae and pupae are often met with in splitting the wood. 

 They live mostly just under the bark, where their broad and wind- 

 ing tracks may be traced by the hardened saw-dust with which 

 they are crowded. Just before they are about to be transformed, 

 they bore into the solid wood to the depth of several inches. 

 They are said to be very injurious to the sapling pines in Maine. 

 Professor Peck supposed this species of Callidium to have been 

 introduced into Europe in timber exported from this country, as it 



* Cerambyx violaceus of Linnaeus. 



