50 LIVING LIGHTS. 



Now motionless and dark, eluded search, 

 Self-shrouded ; and anon, starring the sky, 

 Rose like a shower of fire." 



Southey's description of the South-American fireflies does 

 not ill apply to the midsummer night festivals held in our own 

 woods and fields of the North, by the diamonds of the night. 

 As twilight deepens, these living lights appear; creeping 

 from beneath the bark of trees, out of the ground, or drop- 

 ping from some distant limb ; darting here and there in 

 streams of light, soaring high in air, twinkling among the 

 leaves; while down in the hollow, where the cat-tails rustle 

 and nod, rises a veritable luminous cloud. 



The producers of these displays are the lightning-bugs, 

 beetles belonging to the family Lampyridce (Plate X., 

 Fig. 7). They are mainly of small size and soft texture ; 

 the larvae being flat and dark colored, and often presenting 

 the appearance of a bit of velvet. They are carniverous in 

 their habits, and can be found under stones and the bark 

 of trees. The velvet-hued larvce of one species is often 

 seen on the surface of the snow, giving rise to stories of 

 worm showers. The family is divided, generally, into three 

 sub-divisions; and one, the Lampyrince^ is noted for the 

 phosphorescence of many of the species. Numerous species 

 are known throughout the world and in this country, differ- 

 ing much in size ; those in Kentucky and other Southern 

 States being somewhat larger than their Northern cousins. 

 In the South and the West-India Islands they are seen to best 

 advantage. In these isles of summer, especially Jamaica, 

 Gosse studied their habits, and observed their nocturnal 

 glories ; and to him I am indebted for the following notes 



