ROVE BEETLES. 251 



Family Malacodermidae. 

 (Plate 30, Figs. 8 and 9.) 



This family is regarded as the most primitive of 

 all beetles. The elytra are soft and are not co- 

 adapted to the sides of the body; the body seg- 

 ments are looser and are not so closely united as 

 is the case with most beetles. The commonest 

 type is the ''Soldier Beetle" (Telephorus pidchellus). 



Larvae are found under logs. Froggatt says of 

 one of these beetles : "The larvae are curious smoky- 

 black creatures with blunted spines along the sides 

 of the body, and live under stones or logs." 



Fire-flies or glow-worms (Plate 30, Fig. 9) belong 

 to this family. The female glow-worms are often 

 wingless and larva-like, and send out a strong in- 

 termittent phosphorescence. These are seen in 

 the gullies of the Blue Mountains in summer and 

 are nocturnal in habit, as the ''light" suggests. 



Nearly all of the sub-family Lampyrides give off 

 phosphorescent light. Sharp says : "the lumines- 

 cence is most marked in the female imago, in which 

 it is concentrated near extremity of the abdomen." 



Fire-flies are usually gregarious in habit: it is 

 said that only the males emit the light. We have 

 fire-flies in Australia, the commonest genus being 

 Luciola flavicollis. Froggatt says : "Our fire-flies 

 are small, light brown beetles, which during the 

 day cling to the foliage, flying about at night emit- 

 ting a bright flash of phosphorescent light from 

 the tip of the abdomen as they move their wings. 

 Several species are found on the Blue Mountains 

 and in the tropical scrubs of Nortli Queensland," 



