196 INSECTS AT HOME. 



and shaped into timber. Sometinies a Beetle has been known 

 to emerge from a piece of furniture which has been in the 

 house for several years, the changed conditions liaving retarded 

 the growth of the Beetle. This insect inhabits the iir-tree, 

 and, as it has of late years become comparatively plentiful from 

 being one of our rarest Beetles, it is likely that many specimens 

 are imported in the fir cargoes from Canada, where it is one of 

 the commonest of insects. 



The owners of the trees in question would be only too glad if 

 the Beetle were less common, for it does very great damage to 

 the timber, seizing upon the trees soon after they are felled, 

 and laying its eggs in crevices of the bark. When the larvae 

 are hatched they set to work at their burrows, driving oblique 

 tunnels deeply into the body of the tree, and so spoiling the 

 timber. As is necessary for such a task, the larva is furnished 

 with exceedingly stout and strong mandibles. Four British 

 species of Caliidium are known. 



On Plate VI. Fig. 10, maybe seen a figure of a very common 

 and very pretty Beetle, belonging to the same family, and 

 known to entomologists by the name of Glytus arietis. In this 

 genus the antennae are shorter than the body, the last joint 

 being somewhat conical. The palpi are short, with the last 

 joint stout and three-sided, the angles being rounded. The 

 thorax is globular, and the body is cylindrical. 



The colour of this species is black, with three yellow bands 

 across the elytra, and a yellow patch at their tips, so that the 

 insect has a very waspish look, and is popularly known as the 

 Wasp Beetle. The similitude is increased by its fussy mode 

 of walking, and the perpetual movement of its antennae, and, 

 as it crawls in and out of the foliage on hedges, it has so very 

 wasp-like a look that few persons, except they be entomologists, 

 like to touch it. In its larval state it burrows into wood, and 

 -emerges somewhere about midsummer. It is fond of fre- 

 quenting flowers, and can be taken in almost any quantity. 

 ■.Being rather variable in the hue of its markings as well as in 

 size, a series ought to be taken for the cabinet. 



Like many wood-boring insects, it sometimes makes its ap- 

 pearance when it is least expected. In 1833, for example, Mr. 

 'Denny, described a curious visitation of the Wasp Beetle iu his 



