COLEOPTEIIA. 51 



very much hunched; and on the top of the last ring there is a 

 flesliy appendage, resembling a leaf in Lymexijlon, and like a 

 straight iiorn in Hijlecatus. They have six short legs near the 

 head. These grubs inhabit oak-trees, and make long cylindrical 

 bun-ows in the solid wood. They are also found in some other 

 kinds of trees. 



Only a few native insects of this family are known to me, 

 and these fortunately seem to be rare in New England. I 

 shall describe only two of them. The first was obtained by 

 beating the limbs of some forest-tree. It may be called 

 Lymexijlon sericenm, the silky timber-beetle. It is of a chest- 

 nut-brown color above, and covered with very short shinin'g 

 yellowish hairs, which give it a silky lush'e. The head is 

 bowed down beneath the fore part of the thorax ; the eyes are 

 very large, and almost meet above and below; the antennae 

 are brownish red, widened and compressed from the fourth to 

 the last joint inclusive ; the thorax is longer than wide, rounded 

 before, convex above, and deeply indented on each side of the 

 base ; the wing-covers are convex, gradually taper behind, and 

 do not cover the tip of the abdomen; the under side of the 

 body, and the legs, are brownish red. Its length is from four 

 to six tenths of an inch. This insect was unknown to Mr. 

 Say, and does not seem to have been described before. 



The generical name Hylecaetus, given to some insects of this 

 family, means a sleeper in the woods, or one who makes his 

 bed in the forest. We have one hitherto undescribed species, 

 which may be called Hylecoetus Americanus, the American 

 timber-beetle. Its head, thorax, abdomen, and legs are light 

 brownish red; the wing-covers, except at the base where they 

 are also red, and the breast, between the middle and hindmost 

 legs, are black. The head is not bowed down under the fore 

 part of the thorax ; the eyes are small and black, and on the 

 middle of the forehead there is one small reddish eyelet, a 

 character unusual among beetles, very few of which have eye- 

 lets ; the antennae resemble those of Lymexylon sericeum, but 

 are shorter ; the thorax is nearly square, but wider than long ; 

 and on each wing-cover there are three slightly elevated longi- 



