164 



COLEOPTERA OP THE LIVERPOOL DISTRICT. 



JOHN W. ELLIS, L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S.E., F.E.S., 



Liverpool; Honorary Secretary, Lancashire and Cheshire Entoi7iological Society. 



PART VII :-STERNOXI. 



(Read before the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society, November 30th, 1885.) 



The British insects comprised in this group of Beetles are few in 

 number (about 75 species), and many of them are very scarce. Of 

 these by far the greater number belong to the family Elaterida, the 

 members of which are known as 'skip-jacks,' from their habit when 

 placed on their backs of throwing themselves into the air by means 

 of a structural arrangement of the pro- and meso-thorax, by which 

 gymnastic exercise they soon recover their natural position. The 

 larvae of several of the species, the members of the genus Agriotes 

 principally, known from their appearance as 'wire-worms,' occa- 

 sionally' prove very destructive to field produce, by devouring the 

 roots of cereal and other plants. 



Of the 7 5 British species I am able to record only about one-fifth 

 as inhabitants of our neighbourhood, though probably, by carefully 

 working such districts as the Simmonswood and Kirby Mosses, this 

 number will be extended. 



Fam. EL A TERIDJE. 

 LACON, Lap. 



Lacon murinus, L. A common species under dried patches of dung 

 on the bare sandhills at Wallasey. 



ELATER, L. 



Elater balteatus, L. Simmonswood Moss. Common in June and 

 July. 



CRYPTOHYPNUS, Esch. 



Cryptohypnus riparius, F, Common throughout the district. 

 Cryptohypnus quadri-pustulatus, F. I captured a single specimen 



of this species by sweeping the herbage by the canal bank at 



Maghull, in May. 



MELANOTUS, Esch. 



Melanotus rufipes, Herbst. A single specimen of this usually 

 common species taken in Eastham Wood, in February 1884, 

 is all I have seen in the district. 



Naturalist, 



