144 POPULAR ENTOMOLOGY. 



ceous plants are covered with brilliant beetles; and the 

 slender twigs of the Mimosa, on which they live in society, 

 appear to bend under the weight of diamond beetles ; the 

 LampyfidcB, issuing in myriads from their retreats, diffuse 

 their mild effulgence over the plants and shrubs, which they 

 often cover with their numbers, and the luminous Elaterida 

 dart about in all directions, filling the air with their radiant 

 tracks/'' 



In the old world, the western coast of Africa, the Cape of 

 Good Hope, Java, and other islands produce the greatest 

 numbers of these brilliant insects ; but leaving them to those 

 who can search for their beautiful and extraordinary forms in 

 their native lands, we must be satisfied with the more mo- 

 derate degree of lustre in the tribes we possess, in which will 

 be found no want of beauty and interest. The numerous 

 family Muscidce, so well known under the general name of 

 Elies, present themselves abundantly to our notice in this 

 and the following month; the Domestic Ely, Blow-Fly, 

 Blue-bottle, etc., are familiar to every one ; they frequent 

 houses, woods, hedges, and, in fact, may be seen everywhere ; 

 they belong to the order Biptera, and some idea may be 

 obtained of the great number of genera and species, by the 

 fact that eight hundred quarto pages have been written by 



