CLASS I. INSECTA: ORDER 1. COLEOPTERA. 
549 
TUMBLE-BUGS. 
Other species, like the common Oeotrupidm and Aphodiidce, frequently met -witTi in Europe, 
are contented with, depositing 
tlieir eggs in the midst of a 
plentiful supply of food. 
The forms of some of the 
Lamellicorn insects are ex- 
tremely curious, and many of 
the larger tropical species are 
furnished with enormous horns 
on the head and thorax, 
which give them a singular 
appearance. The Hercules 
Beetle — Dynastes Hercules — 
is one of the most remarkable 
of these. It is a native of 
Brazil, sometimes attaining a 
length of five inches. (See p. 
542.) The Scarabceus Enema^ 
however, of the East Indies, is 
nearly twice as long, its color 
being of a brilliant brown. The S. nasicornis is a European species, common in gardens, and is 
noted for a pair of curious 
conical horns upon its head. 
The Passalus interru^ytus 
of Linn sens is a large species 
of beetle, nearly two inches 
long, of a shiny-black color, 
the larva feeding on roots, 
and the insect being met 
with in the trunks of trees 
and on sugar-canes. It is 
common in the West Indies. 
(See p. 541.) Other species 
of Passalus are found in New 
Holland, India, and South 
America. 
THE STEENOXIA. 
In the Sternoxia — a term meaning sJiarp-hreasted — the prosternum is produced in front into 
a lobe, and behind into a spine, which is received 
in a small cavity of the mesosternum. By the 
assistance of this apparatus — the spine being drawn 
out of its groove and then suddenly brought into it 
again — many of these insects, as the Elateridce, are 
enabled to execute considerable springs, when laid 
upon their backs, and are hence called Sirring 
Beetles or Snapping Bugs. The larvae of some 
species are wood-borers ; those of others live in 
rotten wood; and some inhabit the ground, feeding 
upon the roots of plants. One of the latter, well known to agriculturists, is the Wire- W'or77i, 
often producing great destruction of the crops of Indian corn, grass, and all cereals. The Elater 
striatus^ of Cayenne, is an inch long, of a black color, and striped upon the back. 
Some of these insects are luminous in the dark. These, including half a dozen species, and 
arranged by Emmons under the genus Larapyris, are the Fire-Flies^ or Lightning-Bugs^ 
THE SCABAB^US NAHIOOHNIS. 
THE ELATE a STRIATUS. 
