396 



ELAPHRID^E ELATINE.E. 



tings treated in the usual way: The trees are called 

 olive wood. 



ELAPHRIM (Stephens). A division of the 

 great Linnaean genus Carabus, comprising the genera 

 Notiophilus, Elaphnis, Blethisa, and Pelophlla. See 

 CARABID^:. This group is distinguished by the 

 unnotched anterior tibiae, the antennae are short and 

 robust. From the Cicindelidce, with which family they 

 were arranged by Linnaeus, they differ in their smaller 

 size, and in wanting an articulated hook at the ex- 

 tremity of the lower jaws. They reside in damp 

 situations, at the margins of streams, &c. The typi- 

 cal genus Elaphrus (Fabricius) may be distinguished 

 by the elevated bosses upon the elytra, and by the 

 rounded thorax. There are four or five British species, 

 of which the Cicindcla riparia, Linnaeus, is the type ; 

 it is about a quarter of an inch long, and of a brassy 

 greenish colour. 



ELATE (Linnasus). A species of palm common 

 in India. It belongs to Moncecia Hexandria, and to 

 its own natural order. It has for a long period 

 been one of our hothouse plants. It thrives best 

 in sandy loam, and requires the warmest part of the 

 stove. 



ELATERID^E. A family of coleopterous insects 

 belonging to the section Pentamera, and subsection 

 Serricornes, forming with the f&mi\y2iuj)restidce (which 

 see), a division under the name of Sternoxi, and dis- 

 tinguished by having the hinder point of the proster- 

 num produced into a laterally compressed point, so as 

 to be capable of being brought, at the will of the 

 insect, into close contact with a depression in front 

 of the metasternuin, whereby, in consequence of the 

 strong muscles with which these parts of the body 

 are armed, the animal is enabled to effect a leap to a 

 considerable height when laid upon its back, whence 

 these insects have obtained the name of skip, or 

 spring-jacks. The body is rather long and narrow, 

 the mandibles notched at the tip, the palpi terminated 

 by a joints larger than the preceding articulations, 

 the joint of the. tarsi are entire, and the posterior 

 angles of the thorax are acute. 



This is an extensive family of insects, but little 

 diversified in their colours, whence they afford a strong 

 contrast to those composing the other family Bupren- 

 tidce. The shortness of the legs renders essential some 

 other apparatus, whereby the insects when laid upon 

 their backs may recover their ordinary position. 

 This apparatus is found in the peculiar structure of 

 the parts of the breast noticed above and in the 

 strength of the muscles with which it is furnished. In 

 order to effect these motions the legs and antennae are 

 laid close to the body in grooves prepared for their 

 reception ; the head and thorax are bent backwards, 

 until they reach the plane of position, and then the 

 point of the prosternum being struck with force into 

 the abovementioned cavity, causes a sudden jerk to 

 be imparted to the insect, which has the effect of 

 raising it to a considerable height in the air. 



The habits of but few of these insects have been 

 hitherto known. The females are furnished with a 

 horny ovipositor at the extremity of the body, whereby 

 they are enabled to convey their eggs to their des- 

 tined situation in the midst of rotten wood, &c. De 

 Geer has described one of their larvae found in such 

 a situation ; it is of a scaly texture, and the tail is 

 terminated by a margined flattened plate, of which the 

 sides are notched, and the extremity cut out. The 

 larva of Elater striatus devours the roots of wheat, and 



occasionally commits considerable devastation. It is 

 this state of the insect which is ordinarily known by 

 the name of the wire-worm. 



In the perfect state, the elateridae are found upon 

 flowers, leaves, and shrubs, and when they are alarmed 

 they fold up their antennae and legs, and fall to the 

 ground. 



Some of the South American species of the family 

 forming the genus Pyrophorus (llliger), are distin- 

 guished by the singular powers which they possess 

 of emitting light from two yellowish patches on the 

 sides of the thorax. Of. these species, which are 

 named by the natives Cucuji, the Elater noctilucus is 

 best known, and so strong is the light which they emit, 

 that two or three placed under a glass are sufficient 

 to enable a person to see the time by a watch in 

 the dark ; and the females are said to fasten many 

 of them to their dresses as glittering ornaments. 

 According to Brown, all the internal parts of the 

 insect are luminous, but there seems reason to doubt 

 this statement. He likewise asserts that the insect 

 has the power of suspending its luminosity at will. 

 A specimen of this insect which had evidently been 

 conveyed to France in American timber, in which it 

 had undergone its transformations, caused much 

 alarm to the inhabitants of the Faubourg Saint An- 

 toine, in Paris, by flying about the houses, emitting at 

 the same time its light. According to M. Lacordaire, 

 who has observed the insect in its living state, the 

 chief reservoir of this luminous matter is situated on 

 the lower side of the body at the junction of the 

 abdomen and thorax. See an interesting memoir by 

 Mr. Curtis, in the Zoological Journal. 



The generic distribution of these insects has, until 

 lately, been but little attended to. Messrs. Latreille, 

 Eschscholtz, and Stephens, have, however, latterly 

 proposed numerous groups, founded upon structural 

 characters, but in their natural history little has been 

 noticed in support of the establishment of these divi- 

 sions. There are nearly one hundred British spe- 

 cies, of which the Elater (Selatosomus) ceneus, distin- 

 guished by its fine metallic tints, the Elater (Corym- 

 bites) pectinicornis, having branched antennae, and the 

 Elater (Ludius) ferrugineus, being the largest British 

 species, are the most conspicuous. 



ELATERIUM (Linnaeus). A genus of climbing 

 West Indian annuals, bearing large fruit of the gourd 

 kind, and for which thpy are cultivated there. 



ELATINE (Linnaeus). An aquatic annual genus, 

 containing two or three species, natives of Europe. 

 Two of the species are English plant, and known by 

 the name of water-pepper, or water-wort. 



ELATINEiE the Water-pepper family. A 

 natural order of dicotyledonous plants, containing 

 only a few genera and species. By many authors 

 this order is looked.upon as a section of Caryophylleae, 

 from which, however, it is distinguished by its capitate 

 stigmata, by the dehiscence of its fruit, and the want 

 of albumen. It bears a considerable affinity to Hype- 



inecE, but differs in having a persistent central axis 

 in the fruit and definite stamens. 



Its essential botanical characters are : sepals three 

 to five, persistent ; petals three to five, alternate with 

 the sepals ; stamens hypogynous, usually twice as 

 many as the petals ; ovary with from three to five 

 hypogynous cells, the same number of styles, and 

 small, capitate stigmas ; capsule three to five-celled, 

 and three to five-valved ; valves separating from the 

 dissepiments which alternate with them ; seeds numc- 



