BEETLES. 47 



may be noticed Ptilodadyla SerricoUis, Say, a chestnut-brown North 

 American species, remarkable for its very long ramose antennae. 



Family IV. — Tekphoridce. 



Body soft, flattened ; head not contracted behind, sometimes 

 visible, and sometimes entirely concealed by the thorax ; antennae 

 and mandibles various in structure ; palpi thickest at the extremity, 

 the maxillary palpi generally longer than the labial ; elytra soft, 

 sometimes obsolete in the female ; habits carnivorous. 



Sub-Family I. — Lycince. 



Head not concealed by the thorax ; eyes small ; antennae close 

 together at the base ; abdominal segments not phosphorescent. 



The Lycince are an almost exclusively exotic group. The elytra 

 are often much widened behind, and they are generally black, 

 varied with red or yellow. The curious Lycus Latissimus, Linn., is 

 found at the Cape of Good Hope. Among the few European 

 species we may mention Lygistopterus Sanguineus, Linn., a red 

 flower-frequenting species with a black head. The other 

 European species of this family belong to the genus Didyoptera, 

 Latr. They are all of a bright red colour, and measure from one- 

 fourth to one-third of an inch in length. 



Sub-Family H, — Lampyrince. 



Head more or less concealed by the thorax ; antennae close 

 together at the base ; eyes of the male very large ; elytra often 

 wanting in the female ; segments of the abdomen often phospho- 

 I'escent. 



To this sub-family belong the Glow-worms of the south of 

 England and the Fire-flies of the continent of Europe. In the 

 common glow-worm, the male, which is but slightly luminous, is a 

 long, narrow, greyish-brown insect, nearly half an inch in length; the 

 female, which is generally found resting on grass in the evening, 

 is entii-ely wingless ; the larvae are said to feed on snails. The male 

 is hardly luminous, but the males of the nearly-allied but rather 

 smaller L. Splendidula, Linn., may be seen in the evening in most 

 parts of the Continent floating about like little sparks. Those of 

 Luciola Itcdica, Linn., a dark brown species about a quarter of an inch 

 long, with a reddish thorax, and reddish-yellow legs, are common 

 everywhere south of the Alps, and shine with a brighter light, 

 and are much more active on the wing, than the northern species. 



