CHAPTEE IV. 



LONGHORNS AND PREY-HUNTERS. 



ONE of the finest, though at the same time most destruc- 

 tive, divisions of the beetle order is that called Longi- 

 cornia, or Longhorns. The beetles are many of them 

 remarkably handsome, and of considerable size, and 

 are readily distinguished by the great length of their 

 antennae, which, in some cases, many times exceed even 

 that of the body itself. These insects, in their larval 

 condition, burrow into the solid wood of timber trees, 

 where they live, often from three to five years, devouring 

 the heart wood, and utterly ruining the timber by exca- 

 vating through it in various directions neatly cut galleries, 

 which, commencing on the outside in a small and scarcely 

 noticeable opening, constantly increase in diameter with 

 the growth of the larva. 



As a consequence of their longevity and the seclusion 

 of their life, it not unfrequently happens that when an 

 affected tree is cut down, and has been sawn up into 

 planks, the latter contain some of the immature larvae, 

 which escape notice through their burrows not having 

 been sawn through, and thus get conveyed into timber- 

 yards, and even used in building construction, before 

 their occupants have had time to complete the necessary 

 arrangements for making their debut in beetle society. 

 After a while, however, this important era in the life of 



the insects arrives, and the beetles make their exit from 



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