THE BLACK CANTHARIS. 139 



ous kinds of golden-rod, particularly the tall golden-rod 

 {Solidago aUzsnma), which seems to be its favorite food. 

 In some places it is as plentiful in potato-fields as the striped 

 and the margined Cantharis, and by its serious ravages has 

 often excited attention. These three kinds, in fact, are often 

 confounded under the common name of potato-flies ; and it 

 is still more remarkable, that they are collected for medical 

 use, and are sold in our shops Toy the name of Cantharis 

 vittata, without a suspicion of their being distinct from each 

 other. The black Cantharis, or Caniharis atra- 

 ta* (Fig. 64), is totally black, without bands or 

 spots, and measures from four tenths to half of an 

 inch in length. I have repeatedly taken these 

 insects, in considerable quantities, by brushing or 

 shaking them from the potato-vines into a broad 

 tin pan, from which they were emptied into a 

 covered pail containing a little water, which, by 

 wetting their wings, prevented their flying out when the 

 pail was uncovered. The same method may be employed 

 for taking the other kinds of Cantharides, when they become 

 troublesome and destructive from their numbers ; or they 

 may be caught by gently sweeping the plants they frequent 

 with a deep muslin bag-net. They should be killed by 

 throwing them into scalding water, for one or two minutes, 

 after which they may be spread out on sheets of paper to 

 dry, and may be made profitable by selling them to the 

 apothecaries for medical use. 



There are some blistering beetles, belonging to another 

 genus, which seem deserving of a passing notice, not on 

 account of any great injury committed by them, but be- 

 cause they can be used in medicine like the foregoing, 

 and are considered by some naturalists as forming one of 

 the links connecting the orders Coleoptera and Orthoptera. 

 These insects belong to the genus Meloe, so named, it is 

 supposed, because they are of a black, or deep blue-black 



* Lytta atrata, Fabricius. 



