CATALOGUE OF INSECTS. 



245 



Fig. 98.— A click-beetle, or snapping beetle. 



it rests on the head and tip of elytra, and 

 the end of the spine rests at the edge of 

 the cavity. The tension is then suddenly 

 removed and the curvature reversed, the 

 shoulders of the wing-covers striking the 

 surface hard enough to elevate the beetle 

 for quite a distance. In general the in- 

 sects are at least three times as long as 

 wide, broadest at the shoulders and taper- 

 ing posteriorly. The prevailing colors are 

 brown, black and yellowish, and the spe- 

 cies are not often spotted or banded. In 

 the adult stage they rarely do much feed- 

 ing. The larvae are long, slender, a little 

 flattened, very tough and leathery in text- 

 ure, whence they are termed •' wire- 

 worms." Some of these live in decaying 

 wood and are practically harmless ; but 

 others live in the soil, feeding on the roots 



of growing plants, chiefly grasses. Corn and 



potatoes following sod are mainly injured and, 



when the pests are abundant, very little can be 



done to check them. Ordinary insecticide appli- 

 cations are entirely useless. Systematic fall 



plowing of sod land is useful, because it destroys 



the pupae and recently developed beetles. Heavy 



dressings of kainit are useful in spring to kill 



the smaller larvae, and these methods, combined 



with short periods in sod, will serve to lessen if 



they do not entirely prevent the evil. The in- 

 sects usually require three years from egg to 



adult, and a number of species are injurious in 



the same general manner. 



MELASIS Oliv. 



M. pectinicornis Mels. Palisades (Lv), Alpine 

 (Bt), Ft. Lee (Sf), Newark (Soc), Atlantic 

 City (Castle), Anglesea, VII, and South 

 Jersey (W) : found boring in dead oaks 

 (U). . 



THAROPS Lap. 



T. ruficornis Say. Madison, VI, 27 (Prl, Hud- 

 son County (LI), Ft. Lee, South Orange 

 (Sf), seashore (Li), Anglesea (W), always 

 rare ; bores in felled trees (U). 



Fi". 99. — Wire worm from above 

 and side : enlarged. 



