The Glow- Worm and Other Beetles 



ing-holes still connected one to another by 

 tracheal threads. 



Then beneath this pellicle, which is so deli- 

 cate that it can hardly bear the most cautious 

 touch, we see a soft, white mass taking shape, 

 a mass which in a few hours acquires a firm, 

 horny consistency and a vivid yellow hue. 

 The transformation is now complete. Let us 

 tear the fine gauze bag enclosing the organ- 

 ism which has just come into being and direct 

 our investigation to this third form of the 

 Sitaris-larva. 



It is an inert, segmented body, with an 

 oval outline, a horny consistency, just like 

 that of puae and chrysalids, and a bright- 

 yellow colour, which we can best describe by 

 likening it to that of a lemon-drop. Its up- 

 per surface forms a double inclined plane 

 with a very blunt ridge; its lower surface is 

 at first flat, but, as the result of evaporation, 

 becomes more concave daily, leaving a pro- 

 jecting rim all around its oval outline. 

 Lastly, its two extremities or poles are 

 slightly flattened. The major axis of the 

 lower surface averages half an inch in length 

 and the minor axis a quarter of an inch. 



At the cephalic pole of this body is a sort 

 of mask, modelled roughly on the head of 

 the larva, and at the opposite pole a small 

 116 



