198 



INSECTS AT HOME. 



barrels ; the larvae having probably been hatched in the wood 

 of which tlie staves were made, and then relinquished their 

 original liabitations for the richer diet furnished by the flour. 



Wr now come to a most extraordinary insect, which is drawn 

 on ^^'uodcut XXI. Fig. 3. It goes by a great number of 

 names. The scientific title by which it is now known is 



1. Gracilis pygmnca. 2. Strangalia armata. 

 6. llhagiuiii inquisitor. 



3. Astinomus asdilis, 4. Pogonoccrus pilosus. 



Astinomus ccdills. There is no possibility of mistaking this 

 insect, our sole representative of its genus, which may be 

 known by the broad tlattened body, the tubercles on tlie sides of 

 the thorax, and the enormous length of the antenna", wliich in 

 the females are twice as long as the body, and in the males some- 

 times more than four times the length of tlie body. Tliis 

 inordinate length is obtained by the elongation of the joints, 

 not by multiplying them. 



