82 



LAME! LICOKN-BEETLES. 



beetle, slender in form, possesses long and very spiny legs, which 

 are so sharp that birds refuse to eat their owners. Even hens- 

 will ogle such food, and express their disapproval by letting it 

 severely alone, no doubt having learned from experience that such 

 morsels will not slide down very readily. When stating that the 

 beetle is of an ochreous-yellow color, this statement should be 

 amended by saying that this color is produced by dense and even 

 scales of that color, which rub off very readily, exposing the 

 black colors of the wing-covers and body- In this case we have 

 an insect which is both destructive in its larval and adult stage. 



THE SILKEN SERICA. 



(Serica sericea 111.). 



This small beetle, also oval in shape, but a little larger than 

 the Hoplia mentioned before, is of a brown color when still 

 young, but becomes quite dark with age. Specimens not in- 

 jured by having their surface rubbed are truly beautiful in cer- 

 tain lights, showing in such positions almost all the colors of the 

 spectrum upon a silky background. This is most markedly the 

 case near the sides. But notwithstanding this beauty, they can 



Fig. 90. Sericairicotor, Say. - 

 After Saunders. 



Fig. 91. — Lachnosterna fusca, Froehl. — After Di- 

 vision of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture. 



