THE WASP BEETLE. 
105 
family. Not only do furniture and timber suffer from the attacks 
of the Ptilinus, but articles of dress and food are also injured by 
them. Specimens of natural history are often spoiled by the 
holes which are drilled through them by the beetles; and 
stationers sometimes suffer from the voracious insects, which 
bore holes through their wafers, fix them together, and there 
undergo their transformations within them. One species is 
obnoxious to wholesale druggists, on account of the damage 
which it does to the ginger. In some cases, half the ginger is 
drilled with holes, and rendered quite unsaleable. It is not, 
however, lost entirely, because it is reserved for the mill, and is 
then sold as ground ginger, the insects and their grubs being 
reduced to powder together with the ginger which they have 
not consumed. Such specimens are of course not exhibited to 
the general gaze, as the public would be very cautious of pur- 
chasing ground ginger if they knew what it contained. In the 
British Museum, however, may be seen several pieces of ginger 
completely eaten away by the beetle, and numerous examples 
of the insect itself are placed in the same tray. 
There is a large group of beetles, which, in consequence of 
their extremely long antennae, are called by the name of Longi- 
cornes. We have several examples in our own country, some 
of them being remarkable for the beauty of their colours, as 
well as for the elegance of their forms. The common Wasp 
Beetle ( Clytus arietis) is a very good example of the longicorn 
beetles. It may be seen upon the hedges, gently slipping in 
and out with a curiously fussy movement, that very much re- 
sembles the restless gestures of the insect from which it takes 
its name. Its slender shape and yellow-striped body are indeed 
so wasp-like, that many persons are afraid to touch one of these 
beetles lest they should be stung. 
The early life of the Wasp Beetle is spent entirely in dark- 
ness, the grubs burrowing into wood, and therein undergoing 
their transformations. They are curious little beings, white, 
roundish, but flattened ; the rings of which the body is made 
are deeply marked, the segments nearest the head are much 
