744 , ON THE STUDY OF ENTOMOLOGY. 
The insects of this family are chiefly distinguished by an elastic 
sj^ine, which springs from the under side of the thorax, near the ex- 
tremit}^. By n^ieans of this when the animals are turned upon their 
hacks, they jump into the air with a clicking noise, and are able 
when they fall to recover their proper position. The Hemirhipus 
liiied,"tus, and H. obscui'6s, both produce the well known wire-worms 
-i36i--i^' which often make such devastation 
I)3^ooT(| ill our corn-fields and gardens. 
They continue in the larva state five 
years, during which time they feed 
on the roots of oats, wheat, and 
most sorts of grain, as also potatoes 
carrots, salads, &c. They are ex- 
ceedingly destructive in newlv 
made gardens, for several years 
taking off almost everv crop both of vegetables or flowers. Many 
means have been adopted to eradicate them, some of which have 
proved successful. The best way appears to be that of alluring them 
by baits of different kinds. This was first suggested by Sir Joseph 
Banks, and has now become pretty generally adopted ; the plan is 
this when the insects abound : burv an inch or two under the sur- 
face of the soil, where crops are sown or planted, slices either of po- 
tatoes, turnips, parsneps, apples, or caiTots, sticking a wooden skewer 
in each slice to take it out easily when required, as well as to shew 
where tlie bait is buried ; these are to be regularly examined every 
day, or at furthest every other day, and the insects upon them killed. 
Some gardeners have given preference to sliced beet root, or cabbage 
stumps, and others think young lettuce plants atti'act them most, 
whichever is used there must be no neglect in examining and de- 
stroying the worms on them. Mr. Tallant, of little Houghton, a 
great agriculturalist, found that by sowing land with a crop of white 
mustard seed, previous to fallowing for wheat, the gi'ound was 
quite cleared of them, the reason might probably arise from the in- 
capability of the insect to feed on the root of the mustard, on ac- 
count of its acid qualities, and by keeping the land clear of weeds 
or any thing else they could eat, they would die of starvation. After 
five years they go into a pupa state, (b) and shortly appear as a 
chesnut coloured beetle, (c) when their existence seems to be very 
limited. 
Subsection 4th — Serricornis : Malacodermi, Xylophagi ; Lat. with 
Setaceous, or abruptly Clavate Antennae. 
Familv XXXIV.— Cehrionidfe ? — 1 Genus Atop a. 
