108 INTRODUCTION TO ZOOLOGY, 



been mentioned, but it must be nnderstood that in both there 

 are considerable modifications. In many beetles, the wing- 

 cases, or, to use the more correct term, the elytra, are united 

 together, and, as wings could not be used, they are not given. 

 In the glow-worm {Fig. 85, 86), an insect we do not possess 

 in Ireland,* the female, being soft and wingless, does not seem 

 to belong to the present order; but the male is possessed of 

 elytra, and of expansive wings, by means of which he is 

 enabled to shape his course to the " nuptial lamp" displayed 

 by the more stationary female. This idea, though apparently 

 fanciful, appears to be borne out by experiment.! 



The " droning-flight" of the Dor-beetle, heard in the twi- 

 light of the summer-evening's walk, is a sound >vith which 

 every one is familiar ; and equally well known is the manner 

 in which the creature startles us from our reveries by striking 

 against our faces. It is from this circumstance, and not from 

 any absence of the sense of vision, that its common epithet, 

 the " Wind-beetle," has been derived. Both peculiarities have 

 been noticed by Collins in his " Ode to Evening": — 



" Now air is hushed, save 



Where the beetle -winds 



His small but sullen horn; 

 As oft he rises, 'midst the twilight path. 

 Against the pilgrim borne in heedless hum." 



This common insect affords an example of the manner in 

 "which many animals feign death, in order to deceive their 

 enemies. If taken in the hand, and tossed about, its legs 

 ■will be set out perfectly stiff and immoveable (which is its 

 posture when really dead), and will so continue until allowed 

 to remain for a minute or two undisturbed. If the hand be 

 closed, its strength is such, that it is difficult, by the strongest 

 pressure we can exert, to prevent its escape. 



To this family belongs the sacred beetle of the Egyptians 

 {Fig. 87), whose image remains sculptured on many of their 



• The luminous worm found on some of the bogs in Ireland (ante, 

 page (57), is not an insect, but a species of annelid. 



t Vide Entomologia Edinensis, page 206. The idea has been em- 

 bodied by Moore: — 



"beautiful as is the light 



The glow-worm hangs out to allure 

 Her mate to her greeu bower at night." 



