ELATER. 57 



the insect raises and sustains itself on the an- 

 terior part of the head, and the extremity of the 

 body, by which means the spine is removed 

 from the groove where it is lodged, when in its 

 natural position ; then suddenly bending its 

 body, the spine is struck with force across a 

 small ridge or elevation, into the cavity from 

 whence it was withdrawn, by which shock, the 

 parts of the body before sustained in the air, 

 are so forcibly beat against whatever the insect 

 is laid on, as to cause it to spring or rebound to 

 a considerable distance. A cavity, first ob- 

 served by GeofTroy, is scooped out of the under 

 side of the head and thorax, in which the an- 

 tennae are lodged, that they may not be injured 

 by the fall when the insect makes its singular 

 leap. 



Among the Elateres there is one, the Elater 

 noctilucus, which, like the Lampyris, is re- 

 markable for a similar faculty. This insect, 

 which is found in America, and particularly in 

 Jamaica and St. Domingo, emits so bright a 

 light from two yellow spots in the thorax, 

 that when eight or ten of them are confined in 



