WHITE ANTS 173 



especially frequent a low-lying tract of ground not very 

 far from the entrance of my compound. The other 

 evening they there afforded me a most interesting 

 spectacle. I was returning from my drive rather later 

 than usual ; there was no moon, and the short twilight 

 had faded away. This piece of land, which is over- 

 shadowed on one side by trees, was enveloped in dark- 

 ness ; but scattered everywhere in the darkness were 

 to be seen little specks of soft, bright moving light. 

 They were rising, falling, advancing, retreating, for an 

 instant vanishing, then again reappearing. The sight 

 was so pretty that, though it was late, I remained for 

 a long time quite interested in watching it. 



The firefly is not the only flying insect that has the 

 power of emitting light. There is a species of beetle 

 that also possesses this faculty. I only once met with 

 it, and that was many years ago, and in a station much 

 lower down the country. I was sitting in the drawing- 

 room one evening during the rainy season, when I 

 noticed a small dot of light moving to and fro in the 

 air towards the further end of the room. I saw that 

 it proceeded from some insect. The insect presently 

 alighted on a table, and I succeeded in securing it 

 under an inverted tumbler; then I carried it to the 

 lamp for examination. 



I found that it was a beetle, rather small, but, both in 

 form and colour, exceedingly pretty. The light did not 

 proceed, as in the firefly, from the tail, but from two 

 circular spots, one on each side of the head. Whether 

 these spots were its eyes or not I could not determine. 

 The light they emitted was greater than that of the 



