] 58 ZOOLOGY. 



from a line to two and a half inches. Buprestis mariana {ßg. 22), to 

 which this generic name properly belongs, is much like the North American 

 M. mi'giniana. Fig. 23 represents Eucliroma gigas^ which inhabits 

 Cayenne. The larvai in this family bore in wood, and may be frequently 

 discovered under the bark of pine logs. 



The Elateridw {2^1. 81 , ßgs. 3U-33) ai-e closely allied to the Buprestidce^ 

 but the colors are not so brilliant, and the body is less hard. The chief 

 difi'erence is in the structure of the prothorax, which moves so freely in a 

 vertical direction that the insect can emjjloy this power to throw the body 

 about, either to regain its position upon its feet or to escape. The pro- 

 sternum has a projecting spine, which fits into a corresponding impression 

 in the mesosternum. They are generally found among living vegetables. 

 We have found the larva of the large iS^orth American Alaus oculatus in 

 the wood of ash trees. This species extends from the northern part of the 

 United States to the latitude (19°) of Vera Cruz in Mexico. 



The Aprosternia (or Malacodermia) have the antennai generally long 

 and serrated, sometimes clavate, and not lodged in a groove of the pro- 

 sternum, the head detiexed and deeply seated, the body elongate and 

 generally soft, and the feet rather long and slender. The greater part of 

 them are winged. The larva; feed either upon wood or insects, and the 

 adults are found upon flowers or plants, in dead wood, or upon the earth. 

 Some are predaceous. The Malacodermes of Latreille include the families 

 Cehrionides^ Lampyrides^ Melyrides, Clairones^ and Ptiniores / but Stephens 

 and Westwood extend the group considerably further, and the latter adds 

 the family Seydiiucmdiv^ which Stephens places with the Ileteromera. With 

 this exception, the families of these two authors agree, and are as follows : 1, 

 CehrionidcB ; 2, Cyplionldc^; Z Lampyridce ; 4, Telephoridiß ; ^^Melyridce; 

 6, Cleridce ; T, Ptinida'; 8, Lymexylonidce ; 9, Bostrichidw; 10, Scyd- 

 mmiidce. 



The LampyridcB are well known as the family containing the fireflies 

 and glow-worms. The body is lengthened and depressed, and with the 

 elytra of a soft consistence, and the head is more or less hidden by the 

 prothorax. Most of the species seem to be carnivorous. When disturbed 

 they draw in their members and simulate death. The common glow-worm 

 of the middle United States is the female of PJioturis .oersicolor. 



In the Melyr'idce^ some of the species of Malo>chiu8 are remarkable for 

 having red lateral organs which they can swell or relax at pleasure, the use 

 of which is not known. The species of this genus feed upon insects. 



In the Cleridce., the larva of the genus Clerus is remarkable for destroying 

 the larvae of bees. Necrohia and Corynetes are found about old animal 

 carcases, particularly upon the bones. 



The family Ptinidw contains various small oval insects with the head 

 placed deep in the prothorax, the antennse eleven-articulate, filiform, or 

 sometimes pectinate. They are of obscure colors, and counterfeit death. 

 They are very destructive to the woodwork of houses and furniture, and 

 some destroy books and collections of dried plants and insects. The 

 genus Anohium sometimes strikes its jaws upon the wood in which it 

 362 



