258 



INTRODUCTION TO ZOOLOGY 



CHAP. 



f\. B 



FIG. 191. Glow-worm 



Beetles. 



A, Male; B, female. 

 (Life-size.) 



FIG. 192. Male Beetle 



with wings outspread. 



(Slightly enlarged.) 



projecting downwards from the last segment which serves 



as an extra foot. 



The Glow-worm Beetle (Lampyris noctilma) is 

 a small beetle about a third of an inch long, noted 

 for the intermittent luminous glow given out from 



the under side of the tip of the abdomen. This characteristic 



is specially notice- 

 able in the wing- 

 less, dark -coloured 

 females, and prob- 

 ably it is of use 

 in attracting their 

 mates. The male 

 beetle is winged 

 and flies well ; it is 

 a little smaller than 



the female, and is only very slightly luminous. Both the 



egg and the larva also exhibit a very faint glow. The larva 



is very like the female in form, but is slightly narrower, and 



has a row of light marks 



down each side of the 



back (Fig. 193). This 



beetle is only active 



at night, and is most 



usually to be found on 



a damp grassy bank. It 



should be encouraged in 



gardens, for the larvae ^ 



eat small snails. 



The European Fire- 

 flies are closely allied to 



our glow - worms. In 



them the males also are 



brightly luminous and go about in swarms, adding a great 



charm to the summer nights. The females of this fire-fly are 



said to be very rarely seen. 



The ravages of the Furniture Beetle (AnoUum 

 TheFurm- s f r ^ um \ are on iy too well known, for it is the 

 lure xseeuie. ,. . 



cause of "worm-eaten wood, the "worm being 



the little white larva, which, with the aid of a pin, can some- 

 times be extracted without difficulty from a hole in an old 



FIG. 193. Larvae of Glow-worm Beetles. 



