IXSECTA. 121 



with pale brown antennse and legs. The elytra are some- 

 what short. These insects come in autumn, and are found 

 in great numbers on decaying fungi. They run with great 

 activity. 



2. INSECTS LIVING IN BOLETI OR ROTTEN WOOD, 



Are of an oblong form, with the thorax nearly square ; 

 the head is capable of being withdrawn, the antennae 

 granulous, on the two fore feet are five, on the hind four 

 joints. They feed on farinaceous matter, viz., meal, the 

 dust of fungi, or decayed wood. 



The Tenebrio (helops ater) is three lines long, and 

 dotted with black, antennae (feelers) and legs brown ; 

 found in the decayed trunks of old willows. Its larvae 

 closely resembles those of the meal worm. 



The Meal Bug (tenebrio molitor) is oblong, measuring 

 about seven-tenths of an inch, chestnut-brown on the 

 under surface, but dark and shining on the back ; fre- 

 quently found in mills and bake-houses, where its larvae 

 are known by the name of meal worms. It is scarcely 

 possible to get rid of these troublesome insects -when once 

 harbored, for the larva will gnaw its way through wood 

 and hide in the meal chests. As the meal worms are 

 dainty food for nightingales and other insectivora race, 

 kept as parlor birds, they are preserved in the following 

 manner : A wooden box, or rather a large earthen pot 

 since the larvae will eat their way through wood is 

 selected, the bottom is covered with a thick layer of bran, 

 above this is a woolen cloth, and so on until the mass is 

 as high as requisite. In the month of May the worms' 

 and beetles are placed in these vessels ; a hole is made 

 in the uppermost layer, through which two tablespoon- 

 6 



