158 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



became quite evident for the first time. This whole performance 

 was repeated more than once, and on different days, but only at 

 times when the beetle had just before been very ready and very 

 vigorous with her tapping. 



It helped to confirm the fact, which Derham was the first 

 to establish, that the tapping is of the nature of a call between 

 the sexes, and is a means by which they find one another and 

 are brought together. And it seemed to show also that, however 

 interesting it may be, and however clever or intelligent it may 

 appear, the death-watch beetle is after all an uncommonly 

 stupid and very easily deceived little insect. 



In the following list, which maybe found useful for reference, 

 an asterisk prefixed to a name indicates that the author had 

 described or referred to the ticking of the beetle, and a dagger 

 that the name given was due to an erroneous identification of 

 the species with that of the author whose name is enclosed in 

 brackets : 



Chronological List of Names given to the Death-watch 

 Beetle, Xestobium riifoviliosum, De Geer. 



Pre-Linncean. 



■■■" Death-watch " {Scarabaus domesticus), Wilkins, ' Essay 



towards a Eeal Char, and Phil. Lang.,' p. 127 . . 1668 

 *" Hooft Klopperken " (S. sonicephalus), Swammerdam, 'Hist. 



Ins. Gen.,' p. 127 , . . 1669 



*" Death-watch," "Browne, ' Vulgar Errors,' 6th edition (see 



above) 1672 



"" Death-watch " (S. galeatus imlsator), Allen, ' Phil. Trans. 



E. S.,' XX, p. 127 1698 



■'■" Death-watch " (S. galeatus pidsator), Derham, loc. cit., xxii, 



p. 832 62.5 1701 



*" Death-watch " (S. sonicephalus) , Derham, loc. cit., xxiv, 



p. 1586 bis 1704 



*" Death-watcli " {S. galeatus pulsator), Stackhouse, loc. cit., 



xxxiii, p. 159 1724 



Post-LinncBan. 



" La Vrillette Savoyarde " {Byrrhus, No. 4), Geoffroy, ' Hist 

 Ins. Paris,' i, p. 112 ...... 



Ptimis rufovillosiis, De Geer, ' Mem. Ins.,' iv, p. 230 

 Byrrhus rubiginosus, Miiller, ' Zool. Dan. Prod.,' p. 57 . 

 -■-P. pidsator, Schaller, ' Abb. Hall. Nat. Ges.,' i, p. 249 . 

 j-Anobium pcrtinax (Fab.), Herbst, in 'Fuessly Archiv.,' iv 



p. 26 



P. faber, Thunberg, 'Nov. Act. E. Eoc. Upsaliensis,' iv, p. 6 

 \Birrhus pertinax (Linn.), Geoffroy, ' Hist. Ins. Paris,' Four- 

 croy's edit., i, p. 26 

 A. tessellatum, Olivier, ' Entomologie,' ii, No. 16, p. 6 . 



1762 

 1774 

 1776 

 1783 



1783 

 1789 



1785 

 1790 



