242 WONDERS OF INSECT LIFE 



appears easy to understand how it comes about 

 that he is able to discern with tolerable easiness 

 the habitat of the female. 



While it has been suggested that the peculiar 

 lamplighting may be the means of affording some 

 amount of protection to the owner, it is not known 

 with any degree of certainty how far this habit 

 is extended or exactly in detail what objects are 

 secured. 



In some members of the same family of Beetles 

 — the tropical species of South America, for 

 example — the luminosity is very marked and 

 striking. Although generally known as Fireflies, 

 these tropical insects belong to the ColeopterUy 

 or Beetles. To such a prominent extent is the 

 lamplighting carried out that these tropical insects 

 have been referred to as " Railway Beetles.'^ 

 The grub-like female is said to exhibit, according 

 to Professor Ainsworth Davis, " a ' danger-signal ' 

 at either end, and a row of ' caution-signals * 

 along each side, or, to speak less metaphorically, 

 possesses luminous organs in the positions in- 

 dicated which respectively emit red and green 

 light." 



While the British species is stated to have the 

 power of increasing, diminishing, or extinguish- 

 ing the light carried by the female, in the tropical 

 kinds the manner of its control is unknown. The 

 subject bristles with speculation and difficulty; 



