THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 187 
sender. It is really not a beetle at all, but one of those 
apparently insignificant creatures which form the subject of 
Sir John Lubbock’s admirable monograph on the ‘Collembola 
and Thysanoura.’ In this work it is represented on plate 2 
under the name of Smynthurus fuscus, and appears from the 
synonymy, in which of course I have perfect reliance, to be 
the “ Podura globosa-fusca” of Linneus. It is not more than 
a tenth of an inch in length: it has a fat subglobose, body, no 
neck, a transverse head, and many-jointed antennz ; the basal 
joint is short, not projecting beyond the head; the second 
and third are longer, and are followed by a series of fifteen 
or sixteen very short joints, so short as to appear like mere 
marks on the exterior, and not to be real joints at all; the 
legs are short, shorter than the antenne ; indeed they appear 
ridiculously short in proportion to the obese body. Although 
these funny little creatures are accused by my correspondent 
of injuring our crops of mangold, yet 1 am far from being 
convinced that this is really the case; for it seems difficult to 
state in what the food of the Smynthuri really consists. 
‘They certainly swarm on the young plants of mangold, and 
on, as well as under, such small stones as may happen to be 
in the immediate neighbourhood; but their object in thus 
congregating is by no means obvious. Sir John Lubbock 
observes that “the majority of the Collembola live on decay- 
ing vegetable matter, and they are to be found in great 
numbers in almost all damp places, skipping occasionally 
like fleas when disturbed.” The object of the skipping 
propensity, possessed by some of the species, seems to be 
very doubtful ; and it has been well observed by their eminent 
historian, that “the possession of a powerful saltatory appa- 
ratus appears to be a fantastic provision for a species that 
lives in the chinks and crannies of bark, in the interstices of 
fungi, or buried among decaying leaves.” Concerning the 
habits of these Smynthuri very little is known. But few 
life-studies of them have been sketched; but here is one, 
touched tenderly and with a master’s hand:—“It is very 
amusing to see these little creatures coquetting together. 
The male, which is much smaller than the female, runs round 
her, and they butt one another, standing face to face, and 
moving backwards and forwards like two playful lambs. 
Then the female pretends to run away, and the male runs 
