TKOPIC FIRE-FLIES. 165 



than the introduction, " all alive," of the lantern-carriers,* 

 would be that of the beautiful fire-fliesf so abundant in the 

 West Indies and South America. Ocular demonstration is 

 not indeed, in their case, wanted for the purpose of throwing 

 light on the matter of their own effulgence, on which not a 

 shadow of obscurity exists ; but since not merely to introduce, 

 but also to naturalize them would seem no Utopian project, it 

 were well worth the trial, for the sake of throwing tropic 

 radiance on our native landscapes. These brilliant foreigners 

 being natives also of Canada and the Yaudois, where the 

 winters are so rigorous, there seems the less reason why they 

 should not be acclimated to Britain. 



A gentleman;): attempting to introduce them from the Baha- 

 mas, kept them on the voyage, from June to September, feed- 

 ing them on the juice from sugar-canes, which they broke to 

 obtain. The supplying their cages with damp moss, or their 

 daily immersion in cold water, has been recommended for their 

 preservation, by affording a substitute for the moisture of the 

 damp meadows which are their favourite localities. 



The great lantern-flies spoken of above, belong to that order 

 of insects termed Hemiptera, being allied, unlike as they may 

 seem, to bugs, boat-flies, and water-scorpions ; but the fire-fly 

 of the tropics, our present subject, being of the order 

 Coleoptera, is a beetle. By day, as sombre and dull-looking 

 a little animal as any to be seen ; shape, longish ; colour, 



* Fulgora. t EUterida. \ Mr. Lees. 



YOL. Ill 11. 



