108 



APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY 



into the air by a sudden snap of the body for the purpose of getting onto 

 their feet as they alight again, and if this fails at first the snapping is 

 repeated. The larvae (Figs. 97 and 98), commonly called wire worms, 

 are nearly all slender, yellow or brown, with very hard shells, often glis- 

 tening, one sub-family where they are soft-bodied and white forming a 

 notable exception to this. The outline of the hinder end is often made 

 use of in distinguishing the 

 different kinds of wireworms. 

 Their food habits have a wide 

 range : some feed on decaying 

 wood under bark or elsewhere ; 

 others on fungi ; several groups 

 are carnivorous, and still 

 others feed on roots or seeds 

 in the ground. 



Fig. 97. Fig. 98. 



Fig. 97. — Wheat Wireworm (Agriotes mancus Say) : a, adult, enlarged about five 

 times; h, full-grown larva (Wireworm), enlarged about three times; c, side view of last 

 segment of larva. {From V. S. D. A. Bull. 156.) 



Fig. 98. — Corn and Cotton Wireworm (Horistonotus uhleri Horn) : o, adult, enlarged 

 about ten times; h, full-grown larva (Wireworm), enlarged over four times. {From U. S. 

 D. A. Bull. 156.) 



One of the largest insects of this family found in the United States 

 is the Eyed Elater {Alaus oculatus L.), which is about an inch and a half 

 long; the elytra black, finely marked with white dots; and with a pair of 

 large, oval, velvety-black spots rimmed with white on the pronotum 

 (Fig. 99). The larvae of this insect feed on insects in decaying wood, 

 often that of the apple, but are of little economic importance. 



