LTOITT-GITTKG COLEOPTRllOUS LAHTA. 81 



be SO in all. There should therefore be in Brazil a Beetle the 

 larva of which emits light from every exposed point ; and 

 although a common light-giving larva which lives in the heart of 

 rotten trees may easily have escaped detection, it is extremely 

 unlikely that a light-giving perfect insect, new in type, could 

 possibly have done so. There would thus be no other to refer it to 

 except the Fireflies. The extreme rarity of the larva, it having only 

 been seen twice by Mr. Fry, is also in favour of its habitat not 

 being known ; and the fact of its having been seen at all, and, 

 above all, creeping across the road, may have arisen from the rotten 

 branch in which it lived having been broken off, and it dislodged 

 from its natural position, and pounced upon by Mr. Fry before 

 it had succeeded in procuring a new nidus for itself This, how- 

 ever, is mere conjecture and speculation ; the fact remains that, 

 although apparently allied to the Elateridje, it differs from their 

 larvae in several very material respects, and that in point of fact it 

 was found, not in wood, but creeping along the ground. Future ob- 

 servation must determine its true relations ; and the first step to 

 doing so is for those entomologists who may have the opportunity, 

 to ascertain what the larva of the Firefly really is. It must exist 

 in myriads ; and doubtless, if any one would bring home (to their 

 own house in tropical America we mean), as our skilful collectors 

 in Europe do, some stumps of wood full of larvae, and put them in 

 ft di'awer and examine them at night, the question whether this was 

 the larva of a Firefly, or not, would be soon solved. 

 The technical description of the larva is as follows : — 

 Head corneous, short, not so broad as tlie tliorax, in great 

 measure hidden under the prothoracic segment, truncate in front, 

 neaidy flat above, with one ocellus, rather large, distinct, and some- 

 what prominent on eacli side of the head. An/enna \ery ahorb 

 and minute, inserted ou the outer side of the mandibles in front 

 of the ocellus, composed of three articles, the first largest, and 

 the other two successively smaller. Mandibles short and small, 

 moderately stout, pointed. MaxillcB and other parts of the mouth 

 not dissected out *. 3Ientuin nearly truncate, slightly emargi- 

 nate. Tliorax in three pieces ; the first as long as the other two, 

 with the sides folded over below, and with two ridges sloping 



* The specimen being unique and not my own property, I have not felt 

 .pistified in risking the destruction of any part of it by dissecting it. The de- 

 scription is therefore merely what can be gathered from inspection under 

 the lens. 



