52 



THE AMEEICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



distributed among 10 other genera, but being- 

 most of them comprehended under the great 

 genus {Telephorus) , which gives its name to the 

 family. A large species of this latter genus 

 (J*. Carolina, Fabr.) I know to prey in the larva 

 slate upon wood-feeding larvffi. The transforma- 

 tions and larval habits of all the other genera 

 are, I believe, unpublished, as indeed were those 

 of the genus to which our Cnrculio-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 larva state, all, or almost all, the Soldier- 

 beetles are ferocious cannibals, yet in the perfect 

 state our American 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 tliis 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 ei^tomologist, 

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

 that the Soldier-beetles are preyed upon by sev- 

 eral species of Sawfiies {Tenthredo family)— in- 

 sects which, in the larva state, are universally 

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

 versally so — whereas, if the Soldier-beetles 

 were normally and habitually insect-eaters in 

 the perfect state, we should rather expect to see 

 a Soldier-beetle devouring a Sawfly than a Saw- 

 fly devouring a Soldier-beetle. It may appear 

 strange to some that a group of organisms, which 

 in the larva state feed exclusively xipon 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 Ichneumon-^e.s 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 

 nothing 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 (maxils) being each of them prolonged into 

 a long, slender, extensile tongue, the use of 

 wliich is evidently to lap up the honej^ of floAVcrs. 

 Two other genera of Beetles {Ncmoynatha and 



Macrosiagon) are remarkable] for the same 

 anomalous peculiarity, and all these thi'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 larvce are less liighly developed than 

 their images. 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 (C'/i. marginatus, Fabr.) swarms 

 everywhere in South Illinois, in June and July, 

 on the flowers of the blackberrj^, 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 Aving case, except a veiy 

 narrow yellow margin all I'ound*, occupied by 

 the black color, Avhich in the other sioecies forms 

 a mere black patch near the tip. The habits of 

 the two are doubtless the same, or nearly the 

 same, in the larva 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 everythmg 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 ye dearly love 

 peaches. 



* Hence comes the specific name, ' 'The Margined Soldier- 

 beetle . ' ' The other sjieoies was called hy the Swedish ento- 

 mologist, DeGeer, "The Pennsylvania Soldier-beetle," 

 because, although it is common everywhere in the Northern 

 States, his specimens originally came from Pennsylvania. 

 Many otlier common insects have, for similar reasons, 

 received local names from foreign naturalists . 



TIT FOR TAT. 



It is a notorious fact mth all entomologists, that one 

 grasshopper is capable of producing thousands of eggs, 

 whicliiu turn produce tlie farmer's scourge— tfje mt- 

 worm. — Agricultural Faper. 



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 sucldng pig. 



EF° The article on the 17-year Cicada, which 

 was promised iu our last, is deferred, for want 

 of space, till our next issue. 



