THE BOMBARDIER BEETLE. 71 



to prefer a vegetable diet, and of these the Amara, 

 already referred to as Sunshiners, are the commonest. 

 A less abundant species, the Zabrus gibbus, an oblong, 

 dark brown, convex Beetle of about half an inch in 

 length, which is found upon the ears of corn, espe- 

 cially in the evening, has occasionally done consider- 

 able injury to the crops in Germany, by its larva 

 devouring the tender shoots of the corn. The perfect 

 Beetle feeds upon the grain. 



Amongst the crowd of smaller species there are 

 one or two that we must not pass without some 

 notice. Nearly all the insects of this tribe have the 

 faculty of secreting a peculiar acrid fluid from the 

 glands described as a urinary apparatus in the second 

 chapter ; this they can discharge from the anus when 

 in danger, sometimes to a considerable distance, and 

 if it comes in contact with the skin it usually pro- 

 duces a reddish brown stain. But in some species 

 this fluid is so exceedingly volatile, that on being dis- 

 charged into the air it immediately becomes con- 

 verted into a whitish vapour, and this change is 

 accompanied by a slight explosion. We have several 

 British beetles which exhibit this curious phsenome- 

 non, and one of them is tolerably abundant, and very 

 generally distributed. It is the common Bombardier 

 Beetle (Brachinus crepitans), a small insect usually a 

 third of an inch in length, but varying from about a 

 sixth to nearly half an inch. The head and prothorax 

 (which are much narrower than the elytra), with the 

 antennas and legs are of a light rusty red colour; the 

 third and fourth joints of the antennae, the eyes and 

 abdomen are black; and the elytra, which exhibit 

 several distinct, parallel, raised lines, are usually of a 

 deep greenish metallic blue. It is found abundantly 



