THE CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS 81 



some being known to feed upon slugs, snails, and worms 

 The adult beetles, however, usually frequent flowers 

 Many members of this family are luminous ; while th( 

 female is often wingless and very like a larva in appear- 

 ance, although the male conforms to the familiar beetle 

 type. Certain South American species are said to emit a 

 strong red light from the two extremities, and a green 

 light from numerous points along the sides of the body. 

 In Paraguay they are appropriately termed " railway 

 beetles." 



The family Ptiuidce comprises a large number of small 

 oblong or oval beetles, many of which are extremely 

 destructive. The larvae are white, fleshy grubs, somewhat 

 sickle-shaped like those of the stag-beetle and cockchafer. 

 Both they and the perfect insects feed upon waste sub- 

 stances, dry timber and woodwork, and stored goods. 

 Anobium striatum is the well-known furniture beetle or 

 "death watch." An allied species (A. paniceum) feeds 

 upon stored goods of many kinds, including capsicum and 

 ginger, and is often the cause of much loss. This family 

 is widely distributed, some of the species having been 

 carried to all parts of the world together with the sub- 

 stances which they attack. 



The long-horn beetles (Cerambycidtv) are characterised 

 by the great length of their antenna?. They are repre- 

 sented in all parts of the world where trees can grow, and 

 are especially numerous in the heavily timbered regions 

 of the tropics. The family includes many thousands of 

 known species, some of which are of great size. The larva? 

 are fleshy grubs, with hard heads, the body being more 

 or less cylindrical, but not curved. They live and feed 

 in the wood of trees, usually forming long burrows. 

 Occasionally, however, a gall is produced, as in the case 

 of our poplar long-horn beetle (Super da popuhiea). 



