COLEOPTERA. 143 



jack falls down and " shams dead ;" all of a sudden it 

 will spring into the air with a peculiar and distinct 

 click, and alight on its legs. The Wire- worms, so in- 

 jurious in the field and garden, are the larv^ of these 

 Click-beetles. The reddish -yellow " Soldiers," the black 

 '"&'dA\ox^'\Telephoridw), so abundant everywhere, possess 

 a head not concealed wuthin the thorax ; they are active, 

 predaceous insects. The Glow-worm {Lampyris nocti- 

 luca), the only luminous British insect, has its head 

 deeply hidden by the thorax, and the form of the male 

 resembles that of the Skip-jack. The female is a fleshy, 

 flat, six-footed grub in appearance, and is entirely des- 

 titute of wings and antennce, and much resembles the 

 larva. The phosphorescent light has been seen in both 

 sexes of the insect, but it is more especially conspicuous 

 in the female ; it proceeds from the underside of the 

 abdomen, near the tail, and appears to be under the 

 control of the insect. The larvae and perfect insects 

 feed on snails. The Death-watch-beetle {Anobium 

 tessellatum) belongg to a destructive family of wood- 

 boring beetles, which form round tunnels in books, 

 furniture, and the woodwork of houses. The ticking 

 noise is probably made by the little beetle's jaws against 

 the hard wood. Like the Skip-jacks, these Death-watch- 

 beetles are great shammers. 



The Heteromera section is divided, by Westwood, 

 into two tribes, the Trachelia, where there is a distinct 

 neck behind the eyes; and the Atrachelia, where the 

 head is immersed in the thorax. Most of the Trachelia 

 are active insects, and some of beautiful colouring, such 

 as the Cardinal-beetles {Pyrochroa ruhens and P. coc- 

 cined). The Spanish Blister-fly [Lytta vesicatorla), of 



