4G6 



COLEOPTERA. 



Fig. 429. 



like, the much smaller male has broad eh'tra and a rather nar- 

 row slender body. 



In the genus Photinus, of which there are numerous species 

 in this country, the antennae are compressed, or nearl}' filiform, 



and the species differ 

 from tliose of Lanipy- 

 ris, by tlie females 

 having wings. Nearly 

 all have phosphor- 

 escent glands in the 

 last abdominal seg- 

 ments. 



Tlio editors of the "American Entomologist," p. 19, give 

 the history of P. pyrcdis Linn. (Fig. 429 ; o, larva; e, under- 

 side of a segment ; /, head ; d, a leg ; &, pupa in its cocoon of 

 earth; c, the adult). Tiie larva lives in the 

 ground, feeding on earthworms and soft bodied 

 insects. When full^^ grown, or during tlie latter 

 part of June, it forms an oval ca\ity in the earth 

 and pupates, and in ten days becomes a beetle. 

 In Photuris the wings and elytra are complete 

 in both sexes, while the head is narrowed behind, 

 and the labrum is distinct. P. Pensylvanica De- 

 Geer (Fig. 430, and 431, larva) is our most com- 

 mon species, and the larva figured I regard as 

 belonging to this species. It is not uncommonly met with in 

 the evening shining brightly as it crawls along, and is blackish 

 and crustaceous like a pill bug. Another Photuris 

 larva (Fig. 432) I have Ibund under a stone in 

 May. It is represented as in the act of walking, 

 the feet on one side of the body moving alter- 

 nately with those on the other. This is the mode 

 in which insects usually walk. 



Fig. 433 (enlarged three times) represents a 



very singular larva, evidently belonging to this 



Fig. 433. family, and related to the genus Drihis. It was 



found by Rev. E. C. Bolles, at AVestbrooke, Maine, under 



leaves, and it probably, like otlier larv.ne of this family, is 



carnivorous. Its body is very flat, with the sides of the head 



Fig. 431. 



