COLEOPTERA. 



101^ 



sometimes wanting. This beetle varies from three tenths to 

 half an inch in length. It finishes its transformations towards 

 the end of July, and lays its eggs early in August, one by one, 

 on the stems of tlie blackberry and raspberry, near a leaf or 

 small twig. The grubs burrow directly into the pith, which 

 they consume as they proceed, so that the stem, for the dis- 

 tance of several inches, is completely deprived of its i)ith, and 

 consequently withers and dies before the end of the summer. 

 In Europe one of these slender Saperdas attacks the hazel- 

 bush, and another the twigs of the pear-tree, in the same way. 



The Lepturians, or Lepturad.e, constitute the third family 

 of the Capricorn-beetles. In most of them the body is nar- 

 rowed behind, which is the origin of the name applied to 

 them, signifying really narrow tail. They differ from the other 

 Capricorn-beetles in the form of their eyes, which are not deeply 

 notched, but are either oval or rounded and prominent, and the 

 antennae are more distant from them, and are implanted near 

 the middle of the forehead. Moreover the head is not deeply 

 sunk in the fore part of the thorax, but is connected with it 

 by a narrowed neck. The thorax varies somewhat in shape, 

 but is generally narrowed before and widened behind. The 

 Lepturians are often gayly colored, and fly about by day, visit- 

 ing flowers for the sake of the poUen and tender leaves, w^hich 

 they eat. Their grubs live in the trunks and stumps of trees, 

 are rather broad and somewhat flattened, and are mostly fur- 

 nished with six extremely short legs. 



The largest and finest of these beetles in New England is 

 the Desmocerus paUiatus* which appears on the flowers and 

 leaves of the common elder towards the end of June and until 

 the middle of July. It is of a deep violet or Prussian blue 

 color, sometimes glossed with green, and nearly one half of 

 the fore part of the wing-covers is orange-yellow, suggesting 

 the idea of a short cloak of this color thrown over the shoulders, 

 which the name palliatus, that is cloaked, was designed to 

 express. The head is narrow. The thorax has nearly the 

 form of a cone cut off at the top, being narrow before and 



* Cerainbyx palliatus of Forster ; Stenocorus cyaneus, Fabricius. 



