﻿206 BRITISH BEETLES. 



etc., and thus are liable to get transported from one 

 locality to another in building materials, etc. It has, 

 indeed, been suggested (and with apparent reason) that 

 one, if not more, of the species in this genus, now cer- 

 tainly considered as indigenous, have been in this way 

 introduced from abroad. C. violaceum, a dull violet- 

 coloured, flattened insect, was formerly of great rarity, 

 though now very common in many parts of the country ; 

 and it is impossible to distinguish British from Canadian 

 examples; — much timber coming to us from North 

 America. Its transformations have been accurately de- 

 scribed in the Liunean Transactions, vol. v., by Kirby ; 

 from whose account it appears that the larva mines gal- 

 leries on the surface of felled fir-trees, under the bark, 

 burrowing deeply and obliquely into the solid wood be- 

 fore changing to pupa. Its mandibles are very stout 

 and solid, resembling two sections of a cone applied 

 against each other for the whole of their flattened 

 sides. 



C. alni (Plate XIII, Fig. 3) is the smallest, and ele- 

 gantly variegated : it occurs plentifully in hedges, etc., 

 both on flowers and in dry twigs. 



H. bajulus, a dull blackish species, variegated with 

 greyish down, and having two shining black marks cu 

 the thorax, is occasionally taken near London ; where 

 its larva has been known to do considerable damage in 

 the timber of houses, even penetrating sheets of lead. 



A. striatum, — very dull, entirely black, and sluggish, 

 — occurs in Scotland, settling on freshly-cut pine stumps. 



The Clytidcs have the thorax nearly globose, and are 

 represented by one genus, Clytus ; the species of which 

 somewhat resemble wasps, being mostly black with yel- 

 low bands : their larvffi make circular holes in palings 



