42 C L E P T E R A . 



insect, with a Ijroad, o\'al, and flattened l)ody ; the thorax is 

 nearly round, but wider than long ; 

 there are no wedge-shaped pieces be- 

 tween the corners of the thorax and 

 the shoulders of the wing-cases, and 

 the outer edges of the latter are en- 

 tire. It is of a purplish-black color, 

 with a coppery lustre ; the head is 

 punctured, concave or hollowed on 

 the top, w^ith the edge of the Ijroad 

 visor turned xi\) in the males ; nearly 

 flat, and with the edge of the visor not raised in the females ; 

 the wing-cases are so thickly and deeply and irregularly 

 punctured as to appear almost as rough as shagreen ; the 

 under-side of the body is smooth and without hairs ; and 

 the legs are short and stout. In addition to the differences 

 betw^een the sexes above described, it may be mentioned that 

 the females are generally much larger than the males, and 

 often want the coppery polish of the latter. They measure 

 from eight tenths of an inch to one inch and one tenth in 

 length. They are nocturnal insects, and conceal themselves 

 during the day in the crevices and hollows of trees, where 

 they feed upon the sap that flows fi-om the bark. They have 

 the odor of Russia leather, and give this out so powerfully 

 that their ])resence can be detected, by the scent alone, at the 

 distance of two or three yards from the place of their retreat. 

 This strong smell suggested the name Osmoderma, that is, 

 scented skin, given to these beetles by the French naturalists. 

 They seem particularly fond of the juices of cherry and apple 

 trees, in the hollows of which I have often discovered them. 

 Their larviB live in the hollows of these same trees, feeding 

 upon the diseased wood, and causing it more rapidly to de- 

 cay. They are whitish fleshy grvibs, with a reddish hard- 

 shelled head, and closely resemble the grubs of the common 

 dor-beetle. In the autumn each one makes an oval cell or 

 pod, of fragments of wood, strongly cemented with a kind 



