52 



THE AMEEICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



distributed among 10 other genera, but being 

 most of them comprehended under the great 

 genus {Telephorus) , wliich gives its name to the 

 family. A large species of this latter genus 

 {T. Carolina, Fabr.) I know to prey in the larva 

 slate upon wood-feeding larva^. The transforma- 

 tions and lan'al habits of all the other genera 

 are, I believe, unpublished, as indeed were those 

 of the genus to wliich our Curculio-eating friend 

 belongs, until through the indefatigable exer- 

 tions of Mr. Leming they are now revealed to 

 the scientific world. 



Although there is good reason to think that, 

 in the lai-va state, all, or almost all, the Soldier- 

 beetles are ferocious cannibals, yet in the perfect 

 state our Amei-ican species seem to feed almost 

 exclusively on the pollen and honey of flowers. 

 European authors, indeed, of undoubted autho- 

 rity, state that many Transatlantic species feed, 

 in the beetle state, voraciously upon other in- 

 sects ; but, although I was familiar with several 

 kinds of these insects in England, from the time 

 that I was seven years old up to the age of thirty, 

 yet I never saw any such thing myself, cither in 

 England or in the United States. Hence, I infer 

 that, with this group of beetles, cannibal pro- 

 pensities form the exception and not the rule ; 

 and I am the rather confirmed in this opinion, 

 because the distinguished British entomologist, 

 John Curtis, asserts {Farm Insects, p. 46, note) 

 that the Soldier-beetles are preyed upon by sev- 

 eral species of Sawflies (Tenthredo family)— in- 

 sects which, in the larva state, are universally 

 vegetable-feeders, and in the fly state ahnost uni- 

 versally so — whereas, if the Soldier-beetles 

 were normally and liabitually insect-eaters in 

 the perfect state, we should rather expect to see 

 a Soldier-beetle devouring a Sawfly than a Saw- 

 tly devouring a Soldier-beetle. It may appear 

 .strange to some that a group of organisms, which 

 in the larva state feed exclusively upon animal 

 matter, should in the perfect or beetle state feed 

 exclusively, or almost exclusively, upon vege- 

 table substances ; but we have many such cases 

 in the little world of Insects. For example, all 

 the known IcJmeumon-i\ies are, in the larva 

 state, parasitic in or" on the bodies of other in- 

 sects, or occasionally on those of spiders, &c., 

 while in the fly state they notoriously feed upon 

 notliing but honey and pollen. 



The genus of beetles to which our little friend 

 belongs is distinguished at once from all the 

 others comprised in the family, by the lower 

 jaws {)iiri.ri!!<) being each of them prolonged into 

 a long, slender, extensile tongue, the use of 

 which is evidently to lap up the honey of flowers. 

 Two other genera of Beetles {Nemoynaiha and 



Macrosiagon) are remarkable] for the same 

 anomalous peculiarity, and all these tlu-ee genera 

 are found upon flowers. It is by means of these 

 three genera — all of which belong to different 

 and distinct families, the other genera of which 

 have lower jaws of the ordinary structure — that 

 we may form some faint idea of how Nature 

 slowly and gradually, in the course of indefinite 

 ages, developed a Beetle into a Bee. The fact 

 that the larva of our genus has lower jaws of the 

 structure usually found in the order of Beetles 

 tends, so far as it goes, to confirm the accepted 

 theory that laiwas are less liighly developed than 

 their imagos. The Pennsylvania Soldier-beetle 

 usually makes its appearance upon such flowers 

 as golden-rod, tliistle, &c., in the months of 

 August, September and October, and is a very 

 common and abundant species in North, and 

 also in South Illinois. 



A very closely allied species, the Margined 

 Soldier-beetle (Ch. mnryinatus, Fabr.) swarms 

 ever\T\-hcre in South Illinois, in June and July, 

 on the flowers of the blackberry, the redroot, 

 &c., but is not met with in the more northerly 

 parts of the State. It might be readily mistaken 

 at first sight for the other one, but is distinguish- 

 able by being several sizes smaller, and by usu- 

 ally having its entire wing case, except a very 

 narrow yellow margin all round*, occupied by 

 the black color, which in the other species forms 

 a mei-e black patch near the tip. The habits of 

 the two are doubtless the same, or nearly the 

 same, in the laiTa state; and both should there- 

 fore be considered as among our best friends. 

 Spare their lives, I beg and pray of you for your 

 own sakes, ye pitiless haters of everything that 

 ye have chosen to label with the three ominous 

 letters— B U G ! Ye may not, perhaps, care 

 for Bugs, but I know that )e dearly love 

 peaches. 



♦ Hence comes the specific name, ' 'Tlie Murgincd Solclicr- 

 beatle . ' ' The other species was ciiUed bj- the Sweilish cpto- 

 niologist, DeGeer, '"Hie Pennsylvania Soldier-beetle," 

 becansc, although it is common everywhere in the Northern 

 States, his specimens originally came from Pennsylvania. 

 Many other common insects have, for similar reasons, 

 received local names from foreifin naturalists. 



TIT FOR TAT. 



It is a notorious foct with all entomologists, that one 

 grasshopper is capable of producing thousands of eggs, 

 which in turn produce the farmer's scourge— tfje cut- 

 worm .—AgvicuUiirn I Paper . 



It is an equally notorious fact with all stock- 

 raisers, that whenever a cow produces twin 

 calves, one of the calves is a lamb, and the other 

 is a roasted sucking pig. 



lyThc article on tlic 17-year Cicada, which 

 was promised in our last, is deferred, for want 

 of space, till our next issue. 



