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TEXT-BOOK OF ZOOLOGY 



perfect beetle bores a vertical opening (bore-hole) through the bark, by 

 which it leaves the tree. By the crossing and interlacing of the larval 

 canals, peculiar figures, resembling printed type, are frequently formed, 



whence in Germany the beetle is 

 also known under the name of 

 "the printer." As may easily 

 be observed, the passages under 

 the bark often display a different 

 form and arrangement to that 

 described above. In such cases 

 they are due to different species 

 of beetles. 



Family 10 : Longicorn Beetles 

 (Cerambycidae). 



These handsome, elongated 

 beetles have received their name 

 from the long antennae which 

 they usually carry curved over 

 the back like the horns of a 

 goat. When touched, they 

 usually emit a sharp squeaking 

 noise (see burying beetle), pro- 



COMMON BAIIK OR "PRINTER" BEETLE. 



(natural size). The same on the right side of margin of the prothorax against 



f:blT;^"L,t. natUral Size) ' a finely-grooved process of the 



mesothorax. The larvae live in 



the inner parts of plants, mostly in the wood. They are accordingly (as 

 a rule) eyeless, colourless, and provided with powerful mandibles (see 

 apple-blossom weevil, bark beetle, etc.). In many of them we find, both 

 on the dorsal and abdominal surfaces, strongly chitinized transverse 

 protuberances, by the aid of which the larvae push themselves along 

 through their canals. (Compare with the pro-legs of caterpillars.) 



One of the most abundant of the longicorns is the Large Poplar 

 Beetle (Saperda carcharias). It measures about 1J inches, and is 

 covered with a greenish-yellow down, and with black dots on the upper 

 side. The colour, thus, is not in contrast with the bark of the willow 

 and poplar which it frequents, and the stems of which are bored by its 

 larva. Its habits are nocturnal, like those of the large continental 

 species, Cerambyx cerdo, which measures about 2 inches, and is also 

 of obscure colour (black with pitch-brown wing-covers). 



Those of the longicorns, however, which fly by day and frequent 



