109 



CHAPTER VIII. 



STERNOXI. 



THE group that now comes before us is a very boldly 

 marked one, and is known by the title of Sternoxi, or 

 ' sharp-breasted/ because the prosternum, or under 

 side of the thorax, is prolonged backwards with a sort 

 of spike, which fits into a cavity between the middle 

 pair of legs. This projection is technically named 

 the ' mucro/ or dagger. The body is long, rather 

 cylindrical, but slightly flattened, and the antennae 

 are mostly serrated, but sometimes pectinated, and in 

 a few instances nearly plain and thread-like. There 

 are other distinctions, but these are so bold and 

 evident that they will be quite sufficient for the 

 reader's purpose. 



Most of these insects possess the curious power of 

 leaping, which has earned for them the popular title 

 of SKIPJACK BEETLES. Their legs are very short, so 

 that if the Beetle should by any chance fall on its 

 back on a flat surface, it would have no power of 

 recovering itself, but for the curious piece of mechanism 

 of which the 'mucro' forms a portion. Whenever the 

 Beetle falls on its back, and cannot recover itself, it 

 lies still for a few moments, and then begins to arch 



