700 FAMILY XXXVIT. KLATEKID.E. 



which are inscrlod in L;■t•(M)^•{'s on. or luidcr Ihc inars'iii <>f tlio front; 

 the freinieiilly i-eti-acU'd. soiiiel lines a(]vanee(l head; elytra covering' 

 the al)d()inen. which lias five free V(>ntral segments; ])rosterniini 

 long:, nsually lobed in front, prolonged behind into an acute spine 

 moving in the mesosternum. the latter short, with a cavity in the 

 middle for the reception of the prosternal spine (Fig. 272, d and 

 (:) ; front coxa' small ronnded. without trochantins, the cavities 

 open behind; middle coxty small, rounded with distinct trochantins; 

 hiiul coxa' ti'ansverse. ()bli(|ue. contiguous, dilated (except rarely) 

 into a i)late covering in ])ai't or entirely the thighs (Fig. 272, g) ; 

 tarsi r)-jointed. simple or lo])ed beneath; claws simple, toothed or 

 pectinated. 



All the species of Elaterida? are vegetable feeders, and are hence 

 to be classed as injurious, though many of them feed upon the 

 juices of rotten wood. The larvae are long, narrow, worm-like crea- 

 tures, very even in width and with a 

 hard, browTiish or yellowish-white 

 Fig. 273. (After Forbes.) body covcriug. (Fig. 273.) They 



are commonly kno\^^l as "wire-worms," and those species which live 

 in the ground feed upon seeds and the roots of grasses and grain, 

 and often do much damage, especially to sprouting corn and other 

 cereal crops. Working as they do beneath the surface of the 

 ground, they are exceedingly dit!icult to destroy. In many of the 

 more injurious species the larva requires several years to complete 

 its growth, and when full grown usually changes in late summer 

 into a pupa in a little cell in the ground. Either the pupa or adult 

 beetle remains in this cell until spring, and it has been found that 

 nuich can be done towards keei)ing them in check by fall i)lowing. 

 which breaks ui) these cells and exj^oscs Itic pupa' oi- yonng adults 

 lo llic rigors of wintei'. 



About 7.000 species ol' I'^bilci'ida' arc known, more llian ;")()() 

 hcirig lisb'd IVoin the I'liilcd States. 



On account of the barge size of the I'amily and Ihc strong general 

 resemblance ol' m;iny of the specie-;, their classilicjit ion is X'cry dit'li- 

 cuH, es|)ecially to bcL;innei's. The genera belonging to the principal 

 subfamily, the I'^laterina'. lia\'e, for (lie most ])art, been treated in 

 sj)ecial synopses or moiiogra])lis, which will he iiieiilioned under the 

 pi'oper generic headings. The principal A\(Mks dealing with the 

 family or the other suhraiiiilies of tlie North .\merican roians ai'e as 

 follows : 



/vr/'o»/<'3.-— "Synopsis of the JMicnemides of Temperate North 

 America," In Pi-oc. Phil. .\cad. Nat. Sci., VI, 1852, 45-49. 



