420 LUMINOUS INSECTS. 



the light, though from a smaller snout than that of 

 F. laternaria, must assume a more splendid and stri- 

 king appearance, the projection being- of a rich deep 

 purple from the base to near the apex, which is of a 

 fine transparent scarlet; and these tints will of course 

 be imparted to the transmitted light. 



In addition to the insects already enumerated, some 

 others have thepower of diffusing light, as two species 

 of Scolopendra (S. electrica and phosphorea), and pro- 

 bably others of the same genus. In these the light is 

 not confined to one part, but proceeds from the whole 

 body. -S. electrica is a common insect in this country, 

 residing under clods of earth, and often visible at 

 night in gardens. S.phosphorea, a native of Asia, is an 

 obscure species, described by Linne, on the authority 

 of C. G. Ekeberg, the captain of a Swedish East India- 

 man, who asserted that it dropped from the air, shining 

 like a glow-worm, upon his ship, when sailing in the 

 Indian ocean a hundred miles (Swedish) from the con- 

 tinent. However singular this statement, it is not in- 

 credible. The insect may either, as Liime suspects, 

 have been elevated into the atmosphere by wings with 

 which, according to him, one species of the genus is 

 provided; or more probably, perhaps, by a strong 

 wind, such as that which raised into the air the shower 

 of insects mentioned by De Geer as occurring in Swe- 

 den in the winter of 1749, after a violent storm that 

 had torn up trees by the roots, and carried away to a 

 great distance the surrounding eai th, and insects which 

 had taken up their winter quarters amongst it*. That 



" De Geer, iv. 63. — These insects, which were chiefly Slaphylini, L., 

 %md\\ Scarabceiy L., spiders, caterpillars, but pariicularly the larvjE of 



