94 COLEOPTEEA. 



on each or on mOst of the rings of which, both above and 

 below, there is an oval space covered with httle elevations, 

 somewhat like the teeth of a fine rasp ; and these little oval 

 rasps, which are designed to aid the grubs in their motions, 

 fully make up to them the want of proper feet. 



Some of these borers always keep one end of their burrows 

 open, out of which, from time to time, they cast their chips, 

 resembling coarse sawdust ; others, as fast as they proceed, 

 fill up the passages behind them with their castings, well 

 known here by the name of powder-post. These borers 

 live from one year to three or perhaps more years before 

 they come to their growth. They undergo their transfor- 

 mations at the fiirthest extremity of their burrows, many 

 of them previously gnawing a passage through the wood to 

 the inside of the bark, for their future escape. The pupa 

 is at first soft and whitish, and it exhibits all the parts of 

 the future beetle under a filmy veil which inwraps every 

 limb. The wings and legs are folded upon the breast, the 

 long antennae are turned back against the sides of the body, 

 and then bent forwards between the legs. When the beetle 

 has thrownv off its pupa-skin, it gnaws away the thin coat 

 of bark that covers the mouth of its burrow, and comes out 

 of its dark and confined retreat, to breathe the fresh air, 

 and to enjoy for the first time the pleasure of sight, and the 

 use of the legs and wings with which it is provided. 



The Capricorn-beetles have been divided into three fami- 

 lies, corresponding with the genera Prionus, Ceramhyx, and 

 Leptura of Linnaeus. Those belonging to the first family 

 are generally of a brown color, have flattened and saw- 

 toothed or beaded antennae of a moderate length, project- 

 ing jaws, and kidney-shaped eyes. Those in the second 

 have eyes of the same shape, more slender or much longer 

 antennae, and smaller jaws ; and are often variegated in 

 their colors. The beetles belonging to the third family are 

 readily distinguished by their eyes, which are round and 

 prominent. These three families are divided into many 



