Aug. 21, 1885.] 



♦ KNOVV^LEDGE 



the heart wood and utterly ruiuing the timber hj 

 excavating through it in various directions neatly-cut 

 galleries, which, commencing on the outside in a small 

 and scarcelj' noticeable oiiening, constantly increase in 

 diameter with the growth of lliV l:ir\ :i. 



As a consequence of tlicii- I-ii„' , ii; ,.i-<l ili- m rln- 

 sion of their life, it not unl'ivii n n; !■, Ik, i.p^!:-- ih;:! 

 when an nJfected tree is mi ',| -,,," ;u.l' l,;is Ikmii 

 sawn up int. I [.li^iks, (li,- l;,ii.r r.mtain Home of the 

 immature l:u-\ n , whirh (-ripr imtice through their 

 burrows n^t li,i\iim- Inni s.nsii ilirough, and thus get 

 conveyed into tiiubur-yards, ami e\cn used in building 

 construction, befure their occui)auts have had time to 

 complete the necessary arrangements for making their 

 dehut in beetle society. After awhile, however, this im- 

 portant era in the life of the insects nrrives, mid the 

 beetles make their exit from their l,iniMu>. ..nly, how- 

 ever, to find themselves far away from tli'ii' ii:ii i\ I' forests, 

 strangers in a strange land, and suddenly intrudiiri d into 

 a human society, w-hich is as astonished to receive them 

 as they are to find themselves in its presence. In this 

 way many fine exotic Longicorns have been captured 

 alive in different parts of England, and this, too, is the 

 exjilanation of the not unfrequent occurrence of the 

 Longicorn beetle called the " Timberman " in mines; 

 the}- have been introduced, in the larval condition, in the 

 timbers used in roofing and supporting tlie passages, and 

 have sometimes established themselvco and bred there. 

 Various forest trees are liable to the attacks of Longicorn 

 beetles ; but, of course, it is those that burrow in fir- 

 wood that are chiefly imported into this country. 



and 1 

 fragments. 



, the 



'111 being stre' 



r they are sure to 

 itilation of antennre 

 ith the 



1 found, in large numbers, burrowing in 

 the twigs of a hamper, which, small though they are, 

 afford plenty of scope for our pigmy beetle. Baskets 

 form, in one way or other, an easy means of transference 



for insects from one country to another. Many conti- 

 nental species are brought over with fruit and vegetables, 

 and the Borough Market, in London, is quite noted for 

 the number of such in^^ects that have been found alive 



(1.1 r.\ A1i lit livK ',-• ■•" ■!■ 1- '—---.™ was in- 



,,: ' ., , ,1 -. 1 . .' -':ft; some 



COh-Mj.MTi-t .:f ,V|.U1K, al.l 1m'. 1; .:K. '■- 



the July of 1880, one of my servants br-ught me two 

 specimens taken in the garden at the back of the house 

 (the only two specimens then noticed). Last July, how- 

 ever (1881), two or three more were captured, and a day 

 or two after they called my attention to the fact that 

 numbers (dozens,"in fact) were creeping upon the floor in 

 the scullery: upon examinatinn, I traced them to an old 

 basket used for potato ^ . , i.l _- i r.illy kept under the 

 slopstone, and conse.].; : ■ ' 'ely damp; in this 



they showed their ] i- i ! iierous small round 



holes, about the size ••( a j ii.^ b, M." The basket, on 

 being submitted to a prnfessiMnid basket-maker, was pro- 

 nounced to te "of French make from Dutch willows." 

 They had, therefore, evidently established themselves in 

 the basket while in their native country, and subsequently 

 accompanied it across the Channel, when it was used for 

 the transport of vegetables. 



The larva of a much larger beetle, called Bylofrvfes 

 hajtdus (Fig. CV b.i- >.>i:h IImm^ .bur- en^M.b^rnl.ip <]-^^n^s<^. 

 to the raftei--, ■ i' b . , ■ ■ • i '; i ' :■ ' ■ -' ■ ■■'!, 



but even gna ■ b , .:_'', ' ! ! , iih 



whichthe raflT- un-K r^.^.■y.■.\. K irl y -• M . . t!,-,' Sir 

 Joseph Banks .mce gave him a specimen of sheet-lead, 

 which, though only measuring eight inches by four, was 

 luerced with twelve oval holes, some of wh.jh were as 

 much as |-inch in longest diameter. The generic name 

 Hylotnipes, which is Greek for a "borer of timber," at 

 once stigmatises the insect as destructive in this way. 



The beetle is a blackish insect covered with greyish 

 down an.l tlie name lnj:,l"^, which is Latin for a 

 the dusty 



'I'b 



eof n 



>iLrht it would 



perhaps harJly b," iakeu f. r a Longicorn at all. The 

 thorax is very-Iebn^e, aiil carries two polished knobs on 

 its upper .surf;M r. 'I'be rblghs, like those of GraciUa, 

 are rliibbe.l, ..iilv mere eMn>iiieuously so. 



Tbe birva> ef "tlirse beetles are fat*, white, fleshy grubs, 

 u iili MMall. but VI 1-v |i..\\errul. blaek jaws— the tools by 

 wlia-li ab lliedaniau'e is eileeleJ. TllC Jiupa is formed 



I'ir pilings in gardens sometimes produce plentiful 

 snii|iliis nf a most lovely beetle, the resplendence of 

 wb-'se appearance is such as to sim-cresb tlfugh falsely, 

 an aei|ii;intance with the ghn^ '' -■:■:'' ' b:'"' 



iii^ieab . r the comparatively ' h 



( )M I b;^l mil is favoui'cd. li \ ' '.^' 



vielei IT deep blue colon.. ' !iko 



IfyZof/-!(;'.\s though flat!, r. tenniv. In 



allusion to its colour, i i ' .. , liceuin. 



Here is a marvel i ny ! The 



larva is absolutely w b ihckjaws; 



there is not a trace . i ■ about it, 



even up to the vi i x ding and 



changes into a chi\ its larval 



existence has been store.i up m ns i.e.iy siinetldng from 

 which, by the changes that take place during the pupal 



