64 



of June, and during that period I could command a ticking concert 

 almost whenever I chose, merely by laying a watch on a shelf, or by 

 ticking on the wood with the finger-nail, the point of a knife, or any 

 similar instrument. This would soon be answered, from various quar- 

 ters, by the excitable Anobia, who would sally out and proceed slowly 

 towards the point whence the challenge proceeded, ever and anon 

 stopping, just to have a tick themselves. 



I used to keep these beetles in chip boxes, and have had numerous 

 opportunities of witnessing their mode of producing the ticking, both 

 in confinement and at liberty. They do not go to work head fore- 

 most, like a battering ram, but, elevating themselves to their utmost 

 height, and standing as it were on tip-toe, they rapidly oscillate their 

 bodies up and down, exactly in the same way as some of the Tipulidae 

 do when not on the wing ; with this difference, however, that the bo- 

 dies of the Tipulidae do not touch the substance to which their feet 

 cling when thus exercising themselves, while the Anobia strike it at 

 every oscillation, either with the closed mandibles or the mesoster- 

 num (most probably the former), and thus produce the ticking. This 

 sound is not continuous, like the ticking of a watch, but after giving 

 about six or eight strokes the beetle rests for awhile, then gives six or 

 eight more, and so on. 



I once in the month of May found a piece of an old post, about 18 

 inches in length, which had long been lying by in an out-house, and 

 was perforated in all directions by the larvae of these amusing fellows ; 

 it was a regular colony of death-watches. Some of the perfect insects 

 were hammering away on the outside, others within were answering 

 them, many were emerging from the entrances of the holes, and all 

 were in a bustle, and apparently acting on the determination to make 

 the most of their time. 



I am, My dear Sir, 



Yours very truly, 



Geo. Luxfokd. 



To the Editor of ' The Entomologist.' 



JOHN VAN VOORST, >CJB&L-^ PATERNOSTER ROW 



