APRIL. 97 



the upper surface, but sometimes tinged with 

 green, or olivaceous ; the under side mostly 

 inclines to green, of various shades. The elytra 

 and thorax of the vernalis are almost always 

 blue or violet, and underneath the breast, ab- 

 domen and legs are splendidly tinged with vio- 

 let, peuce, and blue. Mr. Curtis, in his de- 

 scription of the laevis, in a recent number of his 

 excellent work on " British Entomology," men- 

 tions, I suppose as a specific character, the 

 denticulated margin of the posterior femora : 

 this, in all probability, will only prove a sexual 

 distinction, as I have this spring captured about 

 seventy specimens, and found it to exist in only 

 thirty. It is also not confined to this species, 

 for in thirty-four specimens of the vernalis, 

 taken but a few days ago on Sherwood Forest, 

 it exists in fourteen. 



Anobium tessellatum, (Death-watch.) The 

 peculiar noise which this little beetle makes by 

 beating its head in rapid succession against the 

 wood it inhabits, has been regarded amongst 

 the superstitious as an omen of death. It is 

 generally in April and May when its knockings 

 are most frequent; and it is now generally un- 

 derstood to Le a signal by which they are en- 

 abled to find each other in their dark labyrinths. 

 If two of them are placed in separate pill-boxes 

 at a short distance, they will frequently answer 



H 



