544 THE STUDY OF INSECTS. 



The family DASCYLLID^; (Das-cyl'li-dae) includes certain 

 beetles that live on plants, usually near the water. The legs 

 are short with slender, tibiae ; the tarsi are five-jointed ; the 

 posterior coxae are transverse, and dilated into a plate partly 

 covering the femora; the anterior coxae are transverse; and 

 the abdomen has five free, ventral segments, the fifth 

 rounded at tip. About fifty species occur in North America. 

 The larvae, of several species at least, live in rotten wood. 



The family RHIPICERID^ (Rhip-i-cer'i-dae) is represented 

 in this country by a very small number of species, which are 

 most commonly found on cedars. The antennae are serrate 

 in the females, frequently flabellate in the males. The an- 

 terior and middle coxae are conical and prominent, the 

 former with large trochantins ; the posterior coxae are 

 transverse, and dilated into a small plate partly covering the 

 femora. 



Family Elaterim: (El-a-ter'i-dae). 



The Click-beetles or Elaters (El'a-ters). 



There is hardly a country child that has not been enter- 

 tertained by the acrobatic performances of the long, tidy- 

 appearing beetles called snapping-bugs, click-beetles, 

 or skip-jacks (Fig. 653). Touch one of them and it 

 at once curls up its legs, and drops as if shot ; it 

 usually lands on its back, and lies there for a time as 

 Fig. 653. if dead. Suddenly there is a click, and the insect 

 pops up into the air several inches. If it comes down on its 

 back, it tries again and again until it succeeds in striking on 

 its feet, and then it runs off. 



We remember well carrying these creatures into the old 

 district schoolhouse, where all lessons had to be learned 

 from books, and where Nature was never given a chance to 

 teach us anything. Here, with one eye on the teacher and 

 one on this interesting jumper laid on our book behind the 

 desk, we found a most fascinating occupation for the tedi- 

 ous moments. But the end was always the same : the 



