116 NATURAL HISTORY. 



St. John's Worm. The light issues from the abdo- 

 men, and the animal can vary its intensity at pleasure. 

 By day these insects bury themselves in the grass, but, 

 creeping forth at night, they emit a shining light which 

 distinguishes them from all others of the beetle race. 



The Lesser Glow Worm (lampyris splendidula) is 

 about four lines in length : dark brown, with two pale 

 but transparent spots on the thorax ; the legs are yellow. 

 The female has short wings, is whitish rather than brown, 

 and in length about five lines. The luminous matter 

 occupies the under side of the two or three terminal seg- 

 ments of the abdomen, and is more brilliant than that 

 of the lampyrus noctiluca. The light of the male is 

 also stronger, and as these insects are seen flying about 

 in the warm summer nights by hundreds, they present a 

 natural and beautiful illumination comparable to number- 

 less little moving stars. In Northern Europe this species 

 of lampyris is more common than the fire- fly, which in- 

 habits only warm climates. There is a race of lampirii 

 found in Italy, where the males are winged as well as the 

 females. 



The Raspberry Bug (dasytes niger). Two lines in 

 length ; black, and covered with hair. The larvae are 

 often met with in raspberries. 



The Bee Wolf (trichodes apiarius), half an inch long, 

 is hirsute, black, and blue ; the elytra adorned with three 

 red bands. These beetles live on flowers, but lay their 

 eggs in the nests of bees. The larvas feed upon those 

 of the bees, and thus do much damage in the hives. 



The Lady Bug (pyrochroa coccinea). is from five to 

 six lines in length ; black, with the antennae terminated 

 by a compressed mass, composed of the terminal joints, 

 forming a reversed conical club ; the elytra and thorax 



