28 Records of the Indian Museum. [Vol. XVI, 1918.] 



group in which the light is intermittent and subject to rapid dimu- 

 nitions and increase of brilHancy, the males and females are both 

 winged and are our true " fire-flies," which are generally seen in 

 swarms. 



Another very interesting point is the manner in which these 

 glow-worms bur}^ themselves underground. In both the specimens 

 I had in captivity I noticed that they began digging at the middle 

 of the cage. As soon as the insect got well underground it closed 

 up the hole by which it entered and which had been used to throw 

 out the excavated mud ; it then gradually enlarged the burrow and 

 extended it towards the further end of the cage until it met with an 

 obstacle, in this case the wooden frame of the cage, which pre- 

 vented further progress in a straight line. On meeting with this 

 obstacle, the excavation was continued for a short distance to the 

 left along the frame-work of the cage, where a comparatively 

 large compartment was made, large enough to hold the insect in 

 comfort and to allow perfect freedom of movement. Once the insect 

 enclosed itself in this " dug-out" all light was shut out as no 

 opening was visible. For the purpose of observation I made 

 openings in the " dug-out" of both specimens and kept the light 

 out by covering these openings with tin covers. From the fore- 

 going observations I am inclined to believe that these insects, 

 being entirely nocturnal in habits, dig burrows in which they 

 spend their lives, resting in them during the day and coming out 

 only at dusk in search of food- In captivity, when there is no hole 

 for them to hide in during the day, they invariably seek some dark 

 corner of the cage and partially bury their heads either at the side 

 of the cage or alongside some object such as a stone or even a 

 large shell. In these burrows they must also change their larval 

 and pupal skins; but when the time for pupation arrives these 

 burrows must be extended for some distance, the female or even 

 the male must find its way out by making a fresh opening. These 

 burrows must also be used by the females for resting during the 

 day, for the Angul specimen always went back to its shelter under 

 the tin cover and remained there all day, only coming out after 

 dusk. 



I have compared the full-grown larva and the adult female 

 which I have successfully bred from it, with larvae and females of 

 various species of Malacoderms fi-om various localities in the collec- 

 tion of the Zoological Survey of India and I find that my specimens 

 agree with those of Lamprophorus tenehrosiis (Wlk.) collected by 

 Drs. N. Annandale and F. H. Gravely in Ce5don. This species, 

 besides being known from Ceylon, has also been recorded from Pondi- 

 cherry ; Dharwar, "taken during the rains"; Madura; all re- 

 corded by Gorham. Among the unnamed Malacoderms in the col- 

 lection of the Zoological Survey of India there is a male Lampro- 

 phorus collected by Dr. N. Annandale, at Balugaon, Puri district, 

 Oritisa (2i-30-vii-T9r3). This specimen agrees exactly with males 

 of L. tenebrosus from Cevlon in the above collection. 



