COLEOPTERA. 77 



entirely killed by these insects. The beetles are of a deep 

 black color, and are punctured all over. The thorax is very 

 convex and rough before ; the wing-covers are not excavated at 

 the tip, but they slope downwards very suddenly behind, as if 

 obliquely cut off, the outer edge of the cut portion is armed with 

 three little teeth on each wing-cover, and on the base or shoulders 

 there is a large red spot. This insect measures one fifth of an 

 inch or more in length. 



The most powerful and destructive of the wood-eating insects 

 are the grubs of the long-horned or Capricorn-beetles, (Ceramby- 

 ciD^), called borers by'Way of distinction. There are many 

 kinds of borers which do not belong to this tribe. Some of them 

 have already been described, and others will be mentioned under 

 the orders to which they belong. Those now under considera- 

 tion differ much from each other in their habits. Some live alto- 

 gether in the trunks of trees, others in the limbs ; some devour 

 the wood, others the pith ; some are found only in shrubs, some 

 in the stems of herbaceous plants, and others are confined to 

 roots. Certain kinds are limited to plants of one species, others 

 live indiscriminately upon several plants of one natural family ; but 

 the same kind of borer is not known to inhabit plants difiering 

 essentially from each other in their natural characters. As might 

 be expected from these circumstances, the beetles produced from 

 these borers are of many different kinds. Nearly one hundred 

 species have been found in Massachusetts, and probably many 

 more remain to be discovered. The Capricorn-beetles agree in 

 the following respects. The antennae are long and tapering, and 

 generally curved like the horns of a goat, which is the origin of the 

 name above given to these beetles. The body is oblong, ap- 

 proaching to a cylindrical form, a little flattened above, and taper- 

 ing somewhat behind. The head is short, and armed with powerful 

 jaws. The thorax is either square, barrel-shaped, or narrowed 

 before ; and is not so wide behind as the wing-covers. The legs 

 are long ; the thighs thickened in the middle ; the feet four- 

 jointed, not formed for rapid motion, but for standing securely, 

 being broad and cushioned beneath, with the third joint deeply 

 notched. Most of these beetles remain upon trees and shrubs 

 during the daytime, but fly abroad at night. Some of them. 



