78 



pair of legs, and usually lies so hidden in a groove excavated for its reception in the 

 meso-sternum, that its use and importance might at first sight not be apparent. When, 

 however, the beetle falls, or is placed upon its back on a surface too smooth for any 

 projection to be reached with its short legs, the service rendered by this curious piece 

 of mechanism will soon be seen, for when the beetle has vainly endeavoured to right itself 

 by the use of its feet, and finds itself as helpless as a turtle in a similar predicament, it 

 bends back its thorax and head until its arched body rests only on the back of the head 

 and the tips of the elytra (wing-covers). By this movement the spine is released from 

 the groove or socket into which it so neatly fits ; then by smartly bending up the 

 thorax again the projection is forced back into its receptacle. This is not so easily 

 accomplished as its withdrawal. It appears to catch for an instant upon the 

 margin of the groove, but by reason of its elasticity bends and springs in with a 

 sudden jerk, producing the snap or click which is heard. The consequent sud- 

 den impact of the elastic elytra on the hard surface tosses the beetle several times its own 

 length into the air, the heiglit being greater as the substance on which it rests is smoother 

 and harder. If it does not fall upon its feet the operation is repeated until the desired 

 effect is accomplished. 



Elaters may be roughly classed in two groups according as the larvae are found feed- 

 ing on the roots of plants (usually under ground) or in old and decaying wood, or under 

 bark. The majority of the first, and a few of the second class are decidedly obnoxious 

 insects, while the rest are more or less beneficial. 



The eggs of the root-feeders are thought (although the fact has, so far as I know, 

 never been actually determined by observation), to be laid on or among the roots or 

 stalks of plants, either in the ground or just at its surface. They are very minute globu- 

 lar, or partly oval bodies of a yellowish-white colour and produce almost invisible slender 

 grubs, wliich even when full grown are seldom more than an inch long. 



In England these grubs have received the name of " wireworms," from their slender- 

 ness and hardness, and the same term is applied to them in this country. It is also in- 

 correctly applied sometimes to the millepedes or myriapods, such as the Juhis, which is 

 found under stones or in wet wood, etc., and is often from two to three inches long. These 

 are not true insects and are easily distinguished from the larvse of the clickers by their 

 many feet, the Juhis, for instance, having over fifty paii-s. 



The larvse of elaters more nearly resemble in shape the well known meal-worms, or 

 grubs of the beetle called Tenebrio molitor. They have twelve segments besides the head, 

 and have six true legs ; also a prop-leg or tubercle on the least segment. They are semi- 

 cylindrical, being rounded above and flattened beneath, and are cased in a very hard, 

 horny covering, which aS"ords them a most efficient protection from the attacks of their 

 smaller enemies, and also enables them to burrow easily and rapidly through light soils. 



Such larvee as live in decaying or old wood are broader and more flattened and in 

 some cases much larger than the earth burrowers. The eggs are probably laid in crevices 

 of the bark or wood in which they undergo their transformations. These larvse may be 

 said to be beneficial in so far as they, with those of many other tribes of insects, aid in 

 destroying and removing the decayed and prostrate vegetation, and thus make way for 

 new growths. 



I am not aware that any very marked damage has as yet been inflicted upon the 

 crops in Canada by the larvse of these beetles, but in the Bi'itish Islands they have been 

 accused of committing alarming depredations on grain, root crops and garden produce of 

 various sorts. Much attention has been given to them by Curtis in his exhaustive trea- 

 tise on " Farm Insects," and also by many other well-known entomologists. A number 

 of species are described, four of which appear to be specially obnoxious and destructive. 

 The larv« live some years, perhaps as many as five, and moult, as do caterpillars, three 

 times before entering the pupa state. This change takes place in a small cell some dis- 

 tance under ground, and in a few weeks the beetles emerge to a higher but much briefer 

 existence, and are found upon various flowering plants, etc. 



The four species so notorious for their ravages belong to the genera Athous and 

 Agriotes of EschschoUz, which are represente 1 in this country by a number of species, 

 having probably similar habits to their old world kindred. 



