HABITS OF THE ZOrHERUS. 177 



" dusky," and is given to the insects partly on account of their 

 dull colouring, and partly because they hate the light and are 

 always found in dark and gloomy places. 



The present species is a very fine one. The head and thorax 

 are black, but the elytra are covered with a coating of yellowish 

 grey, which is very firmly adhesive to the surface, but can be 

 scraped off so as to show that the natural colour of the elytra is 

 black. The upper surface is covered with a number of bold, 

 rounded knobs, arranged in regular longitudinal lines, and being 

 much larger near the suture than on the edges. If the insect be 

 viewed sideways, these knobs, the colour of which is black, are 

 seen to project to a considerable height from the surface of 

 the elytra. 



Beneath, the colour is also dull black, but upon it are a 

 number of round whitish spots, which on examination with a 

 lens are seen to be formed exactly in the same manner as the 

 white of the upper surface, and equally capable of being scraped 

 off. The legs are black, but upon them are scattered a number 

 of tiny white scales of the same character, only so small as to be 

 mere specks, just as if a little of the finest flour had been dusted 

 on them. 



The habits of this insect are tolerably indicated l>y its shape 

 and colour. It is a very slow walker, crawding along as if half 

 stupefied, and even when dislodged from its hiding-place it never 

 seems capable of hurrying its deliberate pace. It is to be found 

 in woods, chiefly hiding itself in the bark or under the trunks of 

 felled trees, or in the heaps of chips which the woodcutters have 

 struck off while cutting down the trees. Consequently, an ento- 

 mologist has a better chance of capturing this fine Beetle if he 

 searches a spot where the woodmen have been at work, than if 

 he goes into the yet untouched forest. 



There are many species of Zopherus, all with similar habits, 

 and all of sombre colours, the present species being perhaps the 

 least dull of the whole genus. One of them is rather curiously 

 coloured. The projections on the elytra are nearly hexagonal, 

 and are set very closely together. As in Zophcnis ^reniii, 

 the knobs are black and the flat surface white, so that the 

 surface of the elytra looks something like a white net with an 

 ebony ball in every mesh. The present species is a native of 

 California. 



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