A LINGERING GOOD-BT. 207 



out of a hole that one has made for one's self 

 with the intention of abiding in it till the larva- 

 life is done. Whether it was this discouragement 

 or not, from some cause my larvaB pined, grew 

 flabby in flesh, and evidently gave up their pros- 

 pects of becoming beetles. After living with me 

 a few weeks a larva died. About five months 

 after coming into my possession, a second larva 

 departed from life. He had shrivelled till he was 

 but a faint image of his former plump self. Evi- 

 dently it is necessary that such creatures should 

 be allowed to be hermits and dwell in the interior 

 of oak-trees till perfection is reached. 



I think if my larvae had lived they would have 

 turned to representatives of the Cerambycidce, 

 the Longicornia of Latreille, the " Fiddlers " of 

 the Germans, since my larvaB had the general 

 shape of the children of that family, being larger 

 in front than behind, having six little prickles to 

 represent feet, and having the rings of the body 

 furnished with humps. These were probably use- 

 ful in dragging the larvaB through their holes. 

 De Mouffet, the ancient and credulous, has this 

 to say : " Terambus, a satirist, did not abstain from 

 quipping of the Muses, whereupon they trans- 

 formed him into a Beetle called Cerambyx, and 

 that deservedly, to endure a double punishment, 

 for he hath legs weak that he goes lame, and like 

 a thief he hangs on a tree." 



The long, recurved antennae of some of these 



