BEETLES. 



359 



Fig. 4iia. —ci,aull- 

 nfpiatkus i}enn- 

 sylcanicus. 



Telephorus wander about ujioii tlie snow, giving rise to stories of showers of 

 worms. 



Tliis family is often iliviiled into three sub-families. The species that have the 

 miildle eoxa» contigucuis, the e|)i|ileur;u narrow at the base, and the e]iisterna of tlie 

 mesotlKU'ax not sinuate on tlic inner si<le, lielong to the sub-faniilv 'relephorinaj ; 

 the sjieeies of the sub-family Lampyrina' differ from those of the Telejiliorina> in hav- 

 ing the corresponding episterna sinuate and the epipleura usually wide at their bases; 

 while the species of Lyciua^ have mi e]ii|ileura' and have the middle coxa^ distant. 



Of the sub-family Telepliorina' the genus 7'e/ephorus, wliich has an exposed head, 

 is well represented in Xorth America. T. Iillliieatns., a species of which the elvtra are 

 blackish brown, finely margined with light brnwii, and the jjrothorax brownish red 

 with a longitudinal black spot each side of the median line above, has been reared. 

 The larva is found early in the spring under sti^mes whei-e it pupates in time to dis- 

 close the imago in 3Iay ; the larva is about 0.5 of an inch long, the imago about tln-ee- 

 fifths as long. The imago is said to feed on liirch leaves. 



The genus Chauliognatlm.-i differs from all other North American Lam]ivrida' in 

 having an extensible fleshy fllament attached to each maxillary lolie. 

 The function of these filaments is pnibably to laj) the honey and pollen 

 from the liowers lui which the bettles feed. C jjeintsi/lcaiilcus is 

 common in the eastern United States; it is about 0.5 of an inch long, 

 and is yellow and black, as follows : the head, antennae and legs are 

 black, and there is a black patch u]Min the yellow prothorax, and an 

 elongated black spot occujiies tlie midtlle of the apical portion of each 

 yellow elytron. Although these beetles eat jiollen and honey, fre- 

 quenting flowers of thistles and golden-rods {SoUdaijo) for the purpose, during late 

 sunnner, their larva; are carnivorous and aid the farmers in the suppression of many 

 noxious insects. The larva' (if '". ju'iuisi/liHoiicus are known to devour the hu-va; of 

 the jilum-weevil {Conotfuclidag iit'iuip/iar). 



The sub-family of Lampyi-ina> is noted for the luminosity of most of its species. 

 The sjiectrum nf the fire-fly w:is alluded to in the general remarks concerning the 

 Coleoptera, but the results which numerous exjierimenters and investigators have 

 obtained in wo]-l;Jng upon the lunnnous organs of beetles are worthy of further notice 

 here. 



These luminous organs differ in distribution on the altdominal segments of differ- 

 ent kinds of Lampyrida', and Motschulsky, in 1858, used the position of the luminous 

 spelts, wliicli are yellow on the beetles, in the seji;n-ation of genera. In finer anatomy 

 the luminous organs, which are liomologically parts of the fat-liody of the insect, 

 consist of the luminiferons cells wrapjied about liy cajiillary anastomoses of the 

 trachea'. Tlie larva% as well as the imagos of Lain]iyrid:ie, are luminous, and it has 

 been asserted further that the eggs emit light. As Wielowiejsky, who has lately 

 studied the histology of these luminous organs, rightly says, the eggs can be luminous 

 only on account of some external sulistance which thej- derived from their mother, or 

 on account of light-giving power of the develo]iihg larvw within them. ^latteucci, 

 Jousset de Bellesme, and others have exjicrimented on the conditions which favor or 

 hinder light-jiroduction in Lampi/rix. Decajiitated specimens retain their power of 

 giving off light, either Avitli or without being subjected to electrical excitement, for 

 four days. High temperature f.-iils to stimulati' the action of the hnuinous organs. 

 In )iure oxygen the light is increased in iiitcn^itN, while no light is emitted in inn-e 



