502 THE INSECT WORLD. 
this manceuvre till it finds itself on its belly, for its legs are too 
short to allow of its turning over. Its structure supplies it with 
the means and the strength of rebounding as many times as it 
falls on its back, and it can thus raise itself more than twelve 
times the length of its body. 


Fig. 550.—Jumping organ of the (Elater, 
seen sideways. 

















Fig. 549.—Jumping organ Fig. 551.—Larva of the Elater. 
of the Elater. 
The larve of the Elateride (Fig. 551) are cylindrical, with 
scaly skin and very short legs. They live in rotten wood or in 
the roots of plants. According to M. Goureau, they pass five 
years in this state. 
The larvee of the genus Agriotes occasion considerable damage 
to wheat-fields. They much resemble the meal-worm, or larva of 
the Tenebrio. The Tetralobides are the largest of the Hlateride, 
attaining to a length of two inches; and are inhabitants of Africa 
and Australia. 
In America are found phosphorescent Hlateride. These are 
the Pyrophori, which the Spaniards of South America call by the 
name of Cucuyos. They have, at the base of their thorax, two 
small, smooth, and brilliant spots, which sparkle during the 
night; the rings of the abdomen also emit a light. They give 
light sufficient to enable one to read at a little distance. The 
Pyrophorus noctilucus (Fig. 552) is very common in Havannah, 
in Brazil, in Guyana, in Mexico, &c., and may be seen at night 
in great numbers, in the foliage of trees. At the time of the 
Spanish conquest, a battalion, just disembarked, did not dare to 
engage with the natives, because it took the Cucuyos which were 
