146 



INSECTS. 



and " sailors," and few of our readers can fail to recognise the species figured, 

 This species (Telephorus fuscus), and a few others of the same genus, some of 



THE WEST INDIAN FIRE -FLY, 



Pyrophorus noctilucus 

 (nat. size). 



Telephorus fuscus (slightly enlarged). 



which are of an almost entirely yellowish red colour, are very plentiful on 



flowers at certain times of the year. 



The Cleridce are generally brightly coloured, of cylindrical form, with 



the prothorax narrower than the elytra, the eyes notched in front, the antennae 



either serrate, pec- 

 tinate, or clavate, 

 and the tarsi fur- 

 nished underneath 

 with membranous 

 lobes. Clerus for- 

 micarius is very 

 abundant in pine- 

 forests, where it 



plays a useful part in hunting for and 

 devouring wood -boring beetles; while 

 the larva is still more active in following 



under the bark the larvae of various kinds which are there 



to be met with. The second species figured (Trichodes 



apiarius) hunts for its prey on flowers, especially those of the 



UmbellifercG, and the larvae are found in beehives, where they 



devour many of the young brood. 



The Ptinidce are all small insects, usually of a somewhat 



cylindrical form, rounded at each end, and with the head 



retracted under a hood-like covering, formed by the prothorax. 



They are obscurely coloured and chiefly interesting on account THE DEATH-WATCH BEETLE 



of their mischievous propensities. In the larval state Ptinus 



fur is very destructive in herbaria, and natural history 



collections generally. The best known of the Ptinidce are the death-watch 



beetles of the genus Anobium, to which we have already referred at the 



beginning of this chapter. These beetles seldom show themselves openly, so 



Clerus formicarius, with larva and pupa 

 (all enlarged). 



A nobium tessellatum 

 (enlarged). 



