108 LONG HORNED BEETLES. 



shrubs, or beneath the bark. They are white or yellowish, with 

 a soft body, in which the joints are well separated by deep in- 

 cisions, and which tapers slightly from head to tail. The first 

 joints are usually enlarged and hammer-shaped, and covered with 

 a horny plate, but are not flattened as are those of the "saw- 

 horned borers" already described. Some larv?e possess the usual 

 number of very small thoracic legs, but the majority have no legs 

 alt all, and move up and down in their burrow^s by alternate con- 

 tractions and extensions of the body, or by means of peculiar 

 projections or hunches on the segments. Many of them keep one 

 end of their burow open, through which they push out the frass, 

 (chips and castings), and their presence is often detected by the 

 little heaps of sawdust on the bark or beneath it on the ground ; 

 others are, however, entirely enclosed in their burrows, leaving 

 the frass in a compact mass behind them as they extend their 

 burrows in front. 



In contradiction to the "saw-horned" or "flat-headed borers" 

 they are frequently called "hammer-headed borers," or "round 

 headed borers". All these larvae possess powerful jaws which 

 enable them to chew food composed of the hardest wood. After 

 passing one, two, or three years in the larval state they transform 

 to pupae inside the burrows, and soon afterwards change to the 

 adult beetles. Before changing to a pupa the larva in many 

 cases transforms a portion of the long burrow into a pupal cham- 

 ber by means of a plug of chips. With few exceptions such larvae 

 attack only dead or dying trees, or plants weakened in some way, 

 perhaps by fire, by transplanting, by pruning, by storms, or by in- 

 sects belonging to other families of beetles. 



This extensive family is divided into three sub- families, 

 which are separated as follows : 

 A. Sides of the prothorax with a sharp margin Prioninae. 



A. A. Prothorax not margined. 



B, Front tibiae not grooved; palpi never acute at tip. .Ceramby- 

 cinae. 



B. B. Front tibiae obliquely grooved on the inner side : 



palpi with the last segment cylindrical and pointed , Laminiae 



