492 AN INTRODUCTION TO ENTOMOLOGY 



in a glass vial do; thus showing that it is the light emitted by the 

 female, and not its odor, that attracts the male. It has also been shown 

 that in some cases at least there are specific differences in the method 

 of flashing which enables the insects to distinguish at a distance their 

 proper mates. 



More than fifty species of the Lampyrida3 have been found in 

 this country. 



The family PHENGODID^ includes a small number of species 

 that were formerly included in the firefly family. In this family 

 the prothorax, though rounded in front, does not cover the head, which 

 is exposed. The antennas are usually pliunose or flabellate in the 

 males. The females of some species, at least, are glow-worms, re- 

 sembling the larvae in form, and are photogenic. Only twenty -three 

 American species have been described ; most of these are foimd in 

 California, Texas, and Arizona, but some occur in the East. 



Family CANTHARID^ 



The Soldier-Beetles and others 



The family Cantharidce includes those genera that were formerly 

 included in the family Lampyridce as the subfamily Telephorinas. 

 For the distinctive characters separating this from the allied families, 

 see the table, page 473. 



The application of the name Cantharidce to this family is the 

 result of one of those unfortunate changes in generic names rendered 

 necessary by our code of nomenclature. In this case the change is 

 especially unfortunate, as the generic name Cantharis has been com- 

 monly applied to certain blister-beetles and is used in that sense in 

 many medical works and in most text-books of entomology. The 

 change is sure to result in much confusion. 



The most common members of this family are the soldier-beetles, 

 Chauliognathus. These are very abundant in late summer and autumn 

 on various flowers, but especially on 

 those of goldenrod. The most com- 

 mon species in the East are the Penn- 

 sylvania soldier-beetle, Chauliognathus 

 pennsylvanicus , which is yellow, with a 

 black spot in the middle of the pro- 

 thorax and one near the tip of each 

 wing-cover (Fig. 581); and the mar- 

 p-. gined soldier-beetle, C. margindtus. 



ig- 5 I- "Yhxs, species (Fig. 582) can be dis- 

 tinguished from the former by the head and lower parts of the femora 

 being orange. The beetles of this genus are remarkable for having 

 an extensible, fleshy filament attached to each maxilla. These fila- 

 ments are probably used in collecting pollen and nectar from flowers. 

 This family is represented in our fauna by nine genera which in- 

 clude more than one hundred and fifty species. 



