WOOD-BORING BEETLES 5 



called Anobium domesticum (Fig. i). It is scarcely one- 

 sixth of an inch long, of a dark brown colour, and, like 

 most of its allies, 

 has the head much 

 sunk in the thorax, 

 which is raised be- 

 hind into a protu- 



FIG. i. Anobium domesticum. 



berance in such a 



way as to cause it to resemble a hood or cowl. When 

 viewed sideways this has a most quaint appearance, and 

 irresistibly reminds one of a coal-scuttle bonnet almost 

 entirely enveloping the head. The upper pair of wings 

 are in the form of hard horny pieces, quite useless for 

 flight, and employed only to cover and protect the 

 delicate membranous hind-wings. They are called elytra, 

 or wing-covers, and it is from this peculiarity of struc- 

 ture that the order gets its name Coleoptera (sheath- 

 wings). The wing-covers are marked with narrow, 

 parallel, longitudinal furrows, and are covered with 

 short soft hairs, termed collectively " pubescence ;" 

 under them are folded a pair of large -sized wings. The 

 legs are of moderate length, but can be closely packed 

 away under the body, when the insect looks like a mere 

 cylindrical pellet of wood, earth, or other inorganic 

 matter, or like a miniature cartridge fitting well into 

 the tubular burrows. In this condition it may be rolled 

 about without manifesting signs of life. The antennae 

 have the last three joints much larger and longer than 

 the rest, a peculiarity which also pertains to other 

 members of the family. 



In its larval condition this insect is a thick fleshy 

 grub, somewhat curved, and swollen at each end (Fig. 2). 

 On the anterior part of the body it carries six tiny 

 legs, a pair on each of the three segments immediately 



