THE CAPRICORN BEETLES. 137 



the Wasp Beetle [Clytus Arietis), so called from the 

 resemblance which the bright yellow bands of its 

 thorax^ elytra_, and abdomen give it to some of the 

 smaller species of wasps. It is usually about half an 

 inch in lengthy and undergoes its transformations in 

 old rotten posts and dry palings. Another species, 

 which is also abundant in some parts of the country, 

 is the Musk Beetle [Aromia moschata), a large beetle 

 which sometimes attains a length of an inch and a 

 half, and the ordinary colour of which is a rich 

 metallic green. It has received its name from its 

 diffusing a powerful and agreeable odour, a faculty 

 which it possesses in common T\dth a large and elegant 

 group of exotic beetles, of which it is the only British 

 representative. Its larva lives in the trunks of willows, 

 and it is upon the surface of these trees that the per- 

 fect insects are to be found, the powerful scent which 

 they emit not unfrequently guiding the passer-by to 

 their place of abode. 



The larvae of all these insects are soft and fleshy, 

 usually somewhat flattened, and widest in front. 

 Their thoracic segments are furnished with six minute 

 legs, which, however, appear to be of but little service 

 in progression, this being effected by means of several 

 protrusible tubercles on the sides of the body, which 

 are pressed against the sides of the galleries formed 

 by the larvae as they devour the wood which con- 

 stitutes their nourishment. Unlike the wood-eating 

 Rhynchophorous beetles, the larvse of the Longicorns 

 bore down boldly into the heart of the tree which 

 they favour with their residence, and as many of them 

 are of large size, the injury which they do in this way 

 to the timber may be easily imagined. It is certainly 

 not lessened by the circumstance that the larvae, at 



