THE WASP BEETLE. 105 



family. Not only do furniture and timber suffer from .the attacks 

 of the Ptilinus, but articles of dress and food are also injured by 

 them. Specimens of natural history are often spoiled by the 

 holes which are drilled through them by the beetles; and 

 stationers sometimes suffer from the voracious insects, which 

 bore holes through their wafers, fix them together, and there 

 undergo their transformations within them. One species is 

 obnoxious to wholesale druggists, on account of the damage 

 which it does to the ginger. In some cases, half the ginger is 

 drilled with holes, and rendered quite unsaleable. It is not, 

 however, lost entirely, because it is reserved for the mill, and is 

 then sold as ground ginger, the insects and their grubs being 

 reduced to powder together with the ginger which they have 

 not consumed. Such specimens are of course not exhibited to 

 the general gaze, as the public would be very cautious of pur- 

 chasing ground ginger if they knew what it contained. In the 

 British Museum, however, may be seen several pieces of ginger 

 completely eaten away by the beetle, and numerous examples 

 of the insect itself are placed in the same tray. 



There is a large group of beetles, which, in consequence of 

 their extremely long antennae, are called by the name of Longi- 

 cornes. We have several examples in our own country, some 

 of them being remarkable for the beauty of their colours, as 

 well as for the elegance of their forms. The common Wasp 

 Beetle (Clytus arietis) is a very good example of the longicorn 

 beetles. It may be seen upon the hedges, gently slipping in 

 and out with a curiously fussy movement, that very much re- 

 sembles the restless gestures of the insect from which it takes 

 its name. Its slender shape and yellow striped body are indeed 

 so wasp-like, that many persons are afraid to touch one of these 

 beetles lest they should be stung. 



The early life of the Wasp Beede is spent entirely in dark- 

 ness, the grubs burrowing into wood, and therein undergoing 

 their transformations. They are curious little beings, white, 

 roundish, but flattened ; the rings of which the body is made 

 are deeply marked, the segments nearest the head are much 



