i io 



COMMON BRITISH INSECTS. 



its body, so that it rests only upon the end of the 

 abdomen and the back of the head, the thorax being- 

 well elevated. By this movement, the mucro is drawn 

 out of the groove into which it fits. Suddenly, the 

 insect reverses its position and springs the elastic 

 mucro into its place, thus driving the base of the 

 elytra against the ground, and causing itself to fly up 

 into the air. 



The spring is always accompanied with a slight 

 but sharp clicking sound, from which these insects 

 have derived the name of CLICK BEETLES. There is 

 an absolute necessity for this curious provision of 

 nature. The Click Beetles are all feeble, slow, and 

 defenceless, and their only way of escaping from an 

 enemy is by loosening their hold of the herbage on 

 which they are crawling, and allowing themselves to 

 drop to the ground. The sweep-net is very useful in 

 catching these Beetles, as it antici- 

 pates the movement, and captures 

 them as they fall. 



WE will now proceed to de- 

 scribe one or two typical examples 

 of this group. 



Of the typical genus our ex- 

 ample is Elater sanguineus, a figure 

 of which is here given. In this 



^^^ ^ antennge are long, and 



inserted just in front of the eyes, which are large 

 and round. The two hinder angles of the thorax 

 are produced into spines pointing backwards, and the 

 mucro is able to move freely in the cavity into which 



Elater san guineas. 



